Capcom has been talking about new intellectual property, explaining that nothing is more difficult in this industry than getting a brand new game series started.

"There is nothing more difficult in this business than launching new IP," explains Christian Svensson. "Capcom is fortunate, and I think has a better track record than most - we do very few licensed properties. Look across our history, and our portfolio of products, and they are all things that we own and control. Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Okami, Megaman: these are all iconic brands.

"And I would look at Okami, Dead Rising and Lost Planet as three of this generation's(ish) successful new launches. We brought back Street Fighter to be relevant again, after a nine or ten-year hiatus of re-releases and rehashes. These are really hard things to do."

It's a shame that new IP struggles these days, but publishers could perhaps stand to break the vicious cycle. Consumers don't know about a new game, so the publisher doesn't feel like marketing it properly, so consumers keep not knowing, and publishers keep not marketing. If you gave Okami the same marketing budget Capcom gives Resident Evil, I bet it would have sold quite well. Often, all it takes is simply telling customers a game is huge in order to make it huge.

Just look at Halo.

The "biggest launch in the history across all forms of entertainment", Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, made Activision's CEO much richer this week.

Bobby Kotick sold two million Activision stock options he's held since 2000. At that time, they were worth about $1.03. Today, Activision stock is worth just under $12 a share. Minus the $2 million strike price, Bobby Kotick made over $20 million in just three days. 

GameSpot goes on to point out that the CEO still owns over 3 million shares, which, as of right now, are worth over $35 million. Plus, let's not forget the $14.95 million compensation package Kotick earned on top of his regular figure in 2008. 

Needless to say, Bobby Kotick is a very rich man. Well, richer man now. Loads richer. 

Sales for videogames were down 19% from the month for September. Plus the release of the biggest PS3 exclusive of the year wasn't enough to keep the PS3 at the top. It's not all bad news though!

Hardware: The Wii retook the top spot in sales this week kicking the PlayStation 3 down to the third spot followed by the Xbox 360. No surprise there as the Wii dropped to $199. 

Software: No surprise here either as Uncharted 2 was the number one selling game of October. Of note is that Take-Two had three of the top ten selling games last month, Borderlands for the Xbox 360 and NBA 2K10 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Sadly, Brutal Legend didn't even make the top ten sellers.

Prediction: Modern Warfare 2 will be the number one selling game for November. That's a big "no duh", I know. Also, the DS/DSi will be the number one seller for hardware once again for the Holiday season.

Hit the jump to get the full breakdown of hardware and software sales.

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If you’re one of those “I must have a disc” kind of persons, its time to let out a deep, satisfying exhale. Take-Two’s CEO Ben Feder isn’t buying the speculation that corporeal videogames will be a thing of the past in the near future. He finds DLC interesting and admits that its growing in popularity, but doesn’t believe it will replace discs for a while at least.

Feder shared his thoughts at the BMO Capital Markets presentation this afternoon in New York, saying (according to Kotaku), “I think reports on the death of package goods have been greatly exaggerated. Downloadable content is interesting and will continue to be interesting, not because it’s eclipsing retail but because of the instant feedback.”

The CEO continued, mentioning his bullishness in regards to DLC before adding, “I think package goods are here with us for a long time. I am pretty confident we will be seeing package goods and stores for a long time.”

GameStop is probably a good indicator of the way the videogame market will swing in the future. And while they are prepping to sell digital content, they’re not exactly having a fire sale on discs and emptying shelves. Physical is going to stick around for a bit.

Guys, I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but Tony Hawk: RIDE is making its way to store shelves on November 17. That's next week.

For a game launching so soon, we sure don't know anything really worthwhile about it. As a refresher, here's what we do know about the game: it has a soundtrack, the Wii version has playable Miis, and pro skaters are down with the product. Encouraging, to say the least.

I don't know what the deal is with Tony Hawk: RIDE, but we've been given yet another tidbit that has nothing to do with how good or bad the game might or might not be: a Wal-Mart-exclusive skateboard peripheral.

It's like the normal one, but it's red. And you have to fight your way through Wal-Mart patrons to obtain it.

It seems that Sony isn't keen on letting Microsoft have all the fun in pretending that its new "me too" motion-sensing peripheral is a brand new platform. PS3 studio boss Michael Denny has joined in on the motion hype, claiming that Sony's new Wiimote is also like a fresh system.

"The motion control system we’re putting in place going forward is we’re treating as more of a platform," he says. "You’re right that here in Europe we have a lot of experience helping develop the peripherals for our social games but we see the motion control solution and experience as being broader than that. We do believe it can come into a core experience as well. The development of motion control software and games is a worldwide venture for us."

Denny also said that the PS3 lineup was "healthy again," rattling off a number of titles: "Yes, along with Heavy Rain and new SingStar and White Knight Chronicles. I think the line-up for PlayStation 3 is looking very healthy again. Exclusive titles like that do show off the platform to great effect. When people get their hands on these experiences, each of which are pushing things along, it does make the experience and what people hope to get from the PlayStation 3 really come to life."

This is such a slow news day ...

I believe the word I'm trying to come up with here is "expensive." Needlessly expensive.

Jim recently gave us a preview of a single premium Modern Warfare 2 Avatar outfit and already we have the full set of them to glance over. Or, if you're really itching to burn Microsoft Points, buy them.

Now admittedly, the miniature UAV is kind of cool. But you know what would have made it even cooler yet? If the silly virtual thing was a free Avatar Award obtainable by playing Modern Warfare 2 rather than a $3.00 download.

Has anyone here broken down and bought Avatar stuff before? It's alright -- we won't judge.

Ever wondered why some videogames have an underdeveloped and clearly rushed multiplayer element shoehorned into it, even though it was neither required nor destined to be successful? According to former Midway producer John Vignocchi, it's certainly not the fault of the developers.

"We were having this battle all the time, talking about, '... is a totally amazing single-player experience the most important thing or should it be an 80% single-player experience and then a pretty cool multiplayer?,'" he divulges. "Stranglehold went through that exact same problem. I think if you ask every single person that worked on Stranglehold whether or not multiplayer was a necessity for that product, they would all say, 'I wish we never did it.'

"It was the worst part of the game, and it was something that executive management had said, 'This has to be in the game.' And no one wanted it, and it turned out the way it turned out. That’s something every game developer goes through."

I'm sure we've all suspected that management forces these inane and arbitrary design decisions, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. It's somewhat worrying that people who don't have the first clue about videogames are the ones deciding what is and isn't in them. That seems true of all industries, and I wish I understood how things got to be that way.

Famed designer Warren Spector wasn’t done with Deus Ex after he and his studio finished the follow-up Invisible War. In a recent interview with Variety, Spector said that he tried to acquire the rights to the IP from Eidos, but before that, he had plans for a game in the vein of Deus Ex ready to go and needing a publisher.

“There were and still are Deus Ex stories I would like to tell,” said Spector. “That story is not done for me. [For the sci-fi game] I sort of filed the serial numbers off.

“Deus Ex was very much a game of the millennium,” he continued.

It makes you feel fuzzy, right? Alas, it doesn’t seem likely that Spector will snatch Deus Ex 3 from Eidos, We’re also willing to guess -- just to throw it out there -- that Spector is too busy now to mess with whatever he had cooking at Junction Point a few years prior. Epic Mickey is happening.

[via The Escapist]

I love these stories. I know full well that this is exactly what Microsoft executives are supposed to say, but it's still hilarious whenever they do say it, as if that's their impartial and genuine opinion. The latest Microsoft executive to say that the Xbox 360 has the best games is Xbox LIVE Europe general manager Jerry Johnson.

"I'll come back and say that Xbox has the best games out there. It's got the best first-person shooter games out there," explains Jerry. "The exclusives we've had over the past years and what we had going into this holiday prove the point that this is still very much at its heart a gaming console.

"There's nothing we're going to change with that. You will start to see us, though, do things that are broader marketing and start to expose some of the things that are broader than just first-person shooters."

Johnson denied that Microsoft would go the way of Nintendo and cast the so-called "core" gamers out into the barren fields: "My wife doesn't like the fact I game sometimes. I'm still going to go game sometimes. There's nothing we're going to change that's going to not focus on those customers more. In fact, not just this year but in the next year, we'll continue to do features that are targeted at that hardcore gamer. At the same time we are going to start to do things that appeal to both the hardcore gamer and the broader user, and continue to do things and start to do more targeted at the broader user specifically."

I'd say that, in the past, Microsoft's "best games out there" comment would have held true. At the time of writing, however, I'm going to have to back the PS3's corner and say that, really, the Xbox 360 hasn't had a lot of hot exclusive action lately. This year, Sony has had Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, Critter Crunch, inFAMOUS, Demon's Souls, all sorts of exclusives that people have loved. I can really only think of Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST for the 360 this year.

Oh, and let's not forget next year: Heavy Rain, God of War III and MAG all look pretty amazing to me.

So, the PlayStation 3 will be getting Netflix, and what's more, it'll be providing the service without Xbox Live's obligatory entry price. Sony will have the edge, since customers will only need to pay the $8.99 Netflix fee as opposed to $8.99 plus a Gold membership to Xbox Live. That said, Microsoft doesn't seem to care, believing that Xbox Live is still a "generation ahead" of the competition.

"The Netflix experience on Xbox LIVE is unique and reflects our commitment for social entertainment. We believe we offer an experience today that is a generation ahead of what others are offering," said an MS spokesman, in response to the PS3's new coup. "For a little over $4 a month Xbox LIVE Gold membership is hands-down the best value in home entertainment, and gives you exclusive access multi-player gaming and early demos as well as Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm, 1 vs 100 and more."

Of course, a lot of that is BS -- you don't need Xbox Live to access Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and Last.fm. You also don't get "early" access to demos, since all Microsoft does is delay demos for Silver members rather than put them up early for Gold ones. Also, the last I checked, online multiplayer wasn't exclusive to the 360. Oh, and 1 vs. 100 will only ever be a selling point to idiots. 

What this response seems to say more than anything is, "We're not dropping the Xbox Live subscription free, nyah nyah nyah." Fair enough, I suppose.

Chances are you've already heard how the forthcoming Xbox 360 update isn't going to play nicely with "unauthorized storage devices" aka all memory units that aren't licensed by Microsoft. It's a bummer considering how expensive the company's storage devices are, no doubt about it.

Patrick Klepek at G4TV got a spokesperson from Microsoft to explain why the decision was made, in addition to what would happen to those who didn't obey the new rules. According to the rep, Microsoft is looking to "protect the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE service from cheating, which is the primary purpose and use of these unauthorized MUs."

I understand that cheating and/or piracy can be a concern, especially when it comes to the name Datel specifically, but really? Is it worth pissing off customers who are simply looking for affordable, fair pricing?

Apparently so, since now people will have no choice but to purchase the $29.99 512 MB memory unit from Microsoft. Those who refuse to comply by not recovering their profiles from the unauthorized MUs "will not be able to recover their profiles following the software update."

Discussion about Infinity Ward's upcoming kill-brown-people simulator Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been, well ... less than positive recently. Old World and PC gamers are feeling slighted by a series of price hikes—a £5 bump for British console gamers and an extra $10 for the PC version—and the recent news that Infinity Ward will be ditching dedicated servers in favor of peer-to-peer matchmaking has met with vocal resistance and a thriving online petition.

Yesterday, Infinity Ward's Creative Specialist and former community manager Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling made it clear that the petition "will not be ignored." Today, he posted the first details on IWNET—the peer-to-peer matchmaking system that will replace dedicated servers—on his personal blog, calling Modern Warfare 2 "the biggest investment Infinity Ward has ever made into the PC version of our games" and "the most feature-rich PC version we’ve ever made."

Describing the matchmaking process, Bowling explains that IWNET will automatically find the server with the lowest ping that matches your gameplay specifications and connect you with other players with the same skill level as your own, putting "you in the game that will give you the smoothest gameplay possible without you having to manually find a server with the best ping." He promises that "it doesn’t mean you’ll just be thrown into a random game!"

For those of you who want to play with a clan, Bowling says that friendlists and private matches, coupled with the new Party system, will let you hang on to the community vibe provided by dedicated servers:

A Party allows you to move from game to game as a group. It’s great for clan matches, because you can party [up] with your clan and move from public game to public game together. Or if you’re doing a scrim, party up and invite the other clan (who is in a party) and they’ll all join at once. Set up a private match together and play. It makes setting up scrims or games with friends easier and hassle free.

Well, there you go. Bowling certainly seems to have addressed the most common complaints I've been seeing, but, judging by the f*ckstorm of comments on the post (2000 and counting), I'm sure not all of you are mollified. The only glaring omission I see is that a lack of custom maps will certainly be a kick in the junk for some of you.

So, finally, we have some solid details on IWNET and how it's going to work. If you're a PC gamer, are you ok with this, or are you still going to be boycotting what will surely be the most popular game of the year? Sound off in the comments.

[Via The Escapist]

In today's edition of "How is This News?," we have got a special report about a collaboration between NASCAR, Target, and DJ Hero. As seen above, Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 1 Chevrolet will have a game-themed paint scheme during Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

If you happen to be in the Charlotte, North Carolina area (why am I even asking?), the race will be happening at Lowe's Motor Speedway. But more importantly, you can check out DJ Hero -- it'll be playable -- at The Fan Midway which is within walking distance.

From 3:30 to 4:00 PM EDT, Truex Jr. will be attempting to keep the party alive with his DJ Hero skills at the very same place. Knowing how this sort of thing usually goes down, hilarity will almost certainly ensue.

This news is surely a chilling vision of things to come.

We joke about all the shovelware on the Wii around here, but seriously ... its kind of out of control just how much there is. This recent report from EEDAR really nails it: while 3% of the 360 titles and 9% of PS3's titles went unreviewed so far this year, the Wii weighed in at a whopping 37% of games unreviewed. Even worse, that went up 12% from last year, where 25% of the year's releases were more or less completely ignored by reviewers.

EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich did acknowledge that the general review score for a Wii game has gone up, but he also thinks it could be because more of them are being ignored entirely. He also comments further on Wii games getting better:

It is just coming at the cost of not reviewing the increase in casual and low-budget titles ... a  similar issue could appear with respect to PS3 and Xbox 360 as the consoles' casual demographics increase in conjunction with the continued growth of their install bases.

I want to beg developers to just spend more time on these games instead of shoving out uninspired projects and hoping for a quick return, but what do I know? I just play em, I don't make em.

[Via Joystiq]

Most multinational corprations are in business for themselves, and only themselves, which is absolutely fine. However, Sony is more of a philanthropist than that, and isn't just fighting for its own profit margins, but for the good of the world! You see, Sony thinks the PlayStation brand should win this generation because it will be best for the videogame industry at large. How thoughtful!

"In an industry that's certainly had its challenges this year, we like to say that the environment where PlayStation wins is best for this industry," claims SCEA boss Jack Tretton, while chatting about Skyrocketing PS3 sales. "We have a brand that can play on a worldwide basis, young and old, male and female, where our competition tends to be relegated to either select regions or to select consumer audiences.

"... We don't have unlimited money, we cater to a more mass market audience. I think we're willing to take a little bit more risk than a competitor like Nintendo is and ultimately we deliver to the masses on a worldwide basis and that's what we've done for the last 15 years."

Seriously, Jack? Did you seriously just try and claim that the PS3 is a mainstream brand while the Wii is more of a niche console, only suitable for "select audiences?" Wow ... yet another brilliant homerun for Sony's borderline insane marketing department. 

Up next, Uwe Boll claims his movies are more popular than Lord of the Rings.

Fresh off B-movie videogame WET, developer A2M might take another swing at developing an original IP. Speaking to VG247, WET creative director Patrick Fortier confirmed that studio was at least entertaining the idea, but he wasn’t definitive in his response. “That’s definitely something A2M is looking at,” said Fortier, “so yes, that’s certainly a possibility.”

Another possibility is A2M working with Bethesda again. In the same conversation, Fortier said that Big B understands WET’s protagonist and, more importantly, is a swell developer to work with.

“They understand Rubi, they speak the same language as us (since they are developers too, they understand how things work on the floor) and they are consummate professionals, so it’s been nothing but joy collaborating with them,”

We’re guessing we’ll see Rubi again before A2M dabbles in fresh IP again, but still, it’s good to know that the developer hasn’t slammed its foot down on the pedal quite yet.

IceFrog, the individual currently maintaining Defense of the Ancients: Allstars, announced today that he has been hired by Valve to "lead a team". While he is currently unable to give any specifics on what he'll be doing over there, it's a pretty safe bet that he'll be working on something DotA related.

It appears that, even though he's now running a Valve team, he'll still be working on at least two patches for Allstars -- the question is if these patches are just him wrapping up already existing work, or if he plans on updating Allstars and working for Valve on what will presumably be a DotA style game at the same time. 

Given the number of DotA style games that are either already out, or scheduled for final release soon, it's no surprise that Valve would want to get in on the action. DotA fans, what do you think? Obviously this is a good move for Valve, but is it a good move for the DotA community? Are you excited about the idea of a Valve-made DotA-style game, or would you rather IceFrog just keep working on Allstars?

[Via Shacknews. Thanks Chris!]

Microsoft's Phil Spencer believes that motion control is destined to be an obligatory part of videogames, eventually becoming as essential as multiplayer. Excuse me while I'm sick into a little bag.

"Much like with multiplayer, I think it will become the norm," claims Spencer. "If you are a racing game without multiplayer the game just didn’t sell. We think that motion control, we think voice recognition, should become a part of gaming as well."

Should it? Is motion control really as desirable a feature as industry executives believe it to be, and should waggle support be as widespread and accepted as traditional control input? I still can't help but wonder if most of these motion controllers are destined to end up in charity shops and flea markets once the craze has died down. After all, motion control is nothing new. Sega was doing it with it's Genesis Activator pad back in the nineties. 

Look how successful that turned out to be.

Polish developer CD Projekt RED is planning to become a publicly traded company in the near future. If so, this move should put some extra clink in the studio’s coffers, thus giving them more money to continue to develop things like, say, The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings without a publisher.

Polygamia is reporting that almost-defunct Polish PC assembling company Optimus S.A. plans to purchase shares of CD Projekt with its own shares. This means CD Projekt would become its own owner, but more importantly, a public entity. It sounds funny because it is: as described by Polygamia, this is a “back door” move to avoid formalities.

And this isn’t set in stone -- the companies have only signed letters of intent. In a Kotaku update to their original story, a CD Projekt representative talked about the implications of possible move: "Since Optimus is a stock market company CD Projekt will in fact go public and have access to all stock instruments. Ultimately, this means money for future development of the whole company."

More money means more problems, but it could also ensure that The Witcher 2 happens and that’s, obviously, not a bad thing. We’ll keep watching this situation and see how it unfolds. In the meanwhile, check out this The Witcher 2 footage to learn why we're pumped about Polish stock market stuff.

In an interview with Shacknews, Stardock's Brad Wardell gave some great insight into why the company has been fighting so heavily for PC gamers' rights, which you should read about. But for the sake of this story, however, we are going to look at the man's thoughts on Games for Windows LIVE.

"I intended for Elemental to be on Games for Windows LIVE, but then as we got closer, the Xbox group took it over more and more," he says. "They have things where, oh, if you want to use Games for Windows LIVE to update your game, you have to go through [their] certification. And if you do it more than X number of times, you have to pay money."

"It's like, 'My friends, you can't do that on the PC.' On the console, I don't have to update my game because an anti-virus program got an update and is now identifying my VB scripts as viruses and I have to apply an emergency patch."

"If Games for Windows LIVE maintains that strategy and they take over, I'm done. I'm not making PC games," explains Wardell. "I would be done." Continuing, he says "I wish Microsoft would do a lot more in making the PC better as a gaming platform."

"For example, the Demigod fiasco with the multiplayer should never have happened. Developers on the PC should not have to license a third-party NAT facilitator. If I was making a game for the Xbox, I get that for free. And I would love if Microsoft would make these servers available -- and they do under Games for Windows LIVE -- without having all these strings attached."

Strong words, indeed. It seems like every time GFWL gets brought up on gaming sites, colorful words naturally follow. Something tells me that isn't about to change anytime soon.

[Image: Sklathill]

...the press room. Hundreds of media outlets far and wide from across the globe find the means, time and most importantly, the budget, to get themselves to the Tokyo Game Show. Hiding underneath the main staircase which accesses the showroom floor, you will find one special room that serves as the main and only haven to house the world's gaming journalist. The sounds of games, children's laughter and doves crying is replaced with the eternal clacking of keyboards and eerie "Japanese" silence.

Fancy editing, video filters or a bat to the face will not make the following video any easier to watch. Witness if you will, a short I like to call, Press Room Suicide. Staring the latest technology in fold away tables, busted internet routers and ancient crusty power strips. For an added bonus, I made sure to end the video with a bang! I have discovered the easiest way to upset the local gaming press, sparing us all an international misunderstanding that could start the next World War.

You're welcome.

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The NPD group recently revealed figures that indicate a shrinking market for music games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero. The genre's biggest saturater, (evil) Activision, has naturally come out of the (evil) woodwork to (evilly) deny any such issues, claiming that it believes there is still plenty of room for growth in the realm of plastic toy guitars.

"It has been a difficult economic year for everybody. Videogames are down, music videogames in terms of overall are down, but most people don’t understand that the music videogame category is actually the second largest selling gaming category period," boasts Guitar Hero boss Dan Rosenweig. "So after Call Of Duty … the entire music genre and Guitar Hero franchise will actually be the number two selling game franchise, so that’s a position we actually consider to be enviable.

"We’re focused on providing value to the consumer, so I don’t think [the market for music games] is saturated. If you actually look at the number of consoles that are out there on a global basis, less than 20 per cent actually have a music game. So there’s the next 80 per cent that we have the opportunity to go after. So there are more consoles, those consoles are getting more connected and we have the opportunity to sell more into that audience. So we're not particularly concerned about that."

That's some impressive number spinning, but come on. You can't tell me you're releasing five Guitar Hero games in one year and that you're not saturating the market. That's just from one franchise, too.

Vogster Entertainment has officially announced a "restructuring to focus its resources towards the enhancement and expansion of content for their recently launched CrimeCraft shooter-MMO hybrid."

The official statement we received today references "significant staffing changes," saying that Vogster's New York headquarters "remains fully functional and committed to the development and production of existing and future titles."

This announcement follows a rumor heard by our friends over at Giant Bomb that indicated Vogster, also responsible for Unbound Saga and Robocalypse, have shut their doors in not one, but three offices -- Chicago, New Jersey, and one in the Ukraine. Our own sources earlier in the day had indicated the same, confirming layoffs for all but certain employees who will focus on post-launch CrimeCraft. 

The full statement can be found after the jump. We'll have more information about the future of CrimeCraft following an upcoming press event in San Francisco.

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Even though Disney doesn’t plan to assume or handle all of the publishing and developing duties related to Marvel videogames, the company believes the incorporation of Marvel will help it hit "critical mass."

"Overtime, on the videogame side, there will be opportunities,” Disney VP Tom Stagg said at a recent conference in New York (via GI.biz). “We've said that, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every videogame that has a Marvel or Disney brand will end up being just produced by us.”

"I suspect there will be a blend of license relationships and self-published titles, but at the same time we believe there's an opportunity there just in terms of our drive, driving ourselves to critical mass and having a broader base of properties with which to do that,” he said.

At the event, the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XVIII Conference, Stagg didn’t mention if the company could reach “terminal velocity,” “absolute zero,” or “oscillatory motion” with the new Marvel properties in tow. He also didn’t mention Newton’s laws, permeability, scalar quantity, or even magnetic domain in conjunction with them either.

Stagg wasn’t saying anything we didn’t know before: Disney, at least right now, isn’t planning to take on every single Marvel game. They’re comfortable with allowing outside studios doing things with the various properties. But, Disney is planning to do stuff with the IPs. Enough stuff, apparently, to have some sort of significant effect on the company.

Upon receiving a magical box of wisdom in the mail earlier this year, several publishers decided to move their high-profile titles out of the busy holiday release window. Max Payne 3, Singularity, BioShock 2, Red Dead Redemption, Red Steel 2, Dark Void, Splinter Cell Conviction, Heavy Rain and a host of other titles are now slated to hit at some point in Q1 2010 instead of immediately before or after Christmas. One problem: these games are going to end up competing with each other within a comparable period of time, in essence voiding the seemingly smart move to a different window. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot realizes this and thinks more delays are coming as a result.

In a recent conversation with MCV, Guillemot said, “We now have a situation where there are a lot of good games due for release in the first half of next year, but I think publishers will move again.”

"The first quarter of 2010 is looking pretty crazy. So I expect some movement from the other players -- some of those delayed games will be moved again,” the CEO said.

Guillemot was careful not to lump his company’s Q1 2010 portfolio -- Red Steel 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction -- with his simple observation, but we just feel (in our bones, of course) that he's prepping us for another Conviction delay. If that happens, well, it's fine with us. We love making Duke Nukem Forever jokes. Really.

[via 1UP]

Shane Kim, Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment corporate vice president for strategy and business development, is to retire from the company after nineteen years of service, possibly because his job title was too long. His job is to be taken by Microsoft Game Studios general manager Phil Spencer, while chief financial officer Dennis Durkin will fill the new position of Xbox group chief operating officer.

"Shane's been an instrumental leader in the evolution of Microsoft Game Studios and the Xbox business -- from the early days of Flight Simulator and Golf to the launch of the original Xbox, to the successful launches for two of the biggest entertainment franchises in the industry -- Halo and Gears Of War," says Xbox senior vice president Don Mattrick.

"Shane's passion for this business and industry runs deep and he will be dearly missed. Having dedicated the last two decades to Microsoft, Shane is eager to make up for lost time with his family and friends."

Kim was one of the more recognizable faces of Microsoft after Peter Moore departed to join EA Sports, and his comments were often featured on the frontpage of Destructoid, not always with a positive light. Goodbye Shane Kim, you were a person that said things for a company because they paid you. May you find good fortune with the next company that pays you say things.

Run for the hills, it's all coming to an end! Wii sales have dropped! PS3 sales are up! The world is spinning out of control, people. In a recent talk with IndustryGamer, analyst Michael Pachter has said just as much, revealing that the Wii's sales are down 50 percent year-to-year over the last five months and he expects them to continue dropping if Nintendo doesn't start selling a new bundle or cutting the price of their system as its two competitors have done.

"Until the late August PS3 price cut, the Xbox 360 appealed to consumers, likely due to a higher perceived value proposition (the Xbox 360 'core' model was priced $100 lower than the PS3). With the core PS3 and Xbox 360 models priced only $50 higher than the Wii, we expect year-over-year sales of Wii hardware to continue their annual declines until the company either changes its bundle or lowers price. Wii unit sales are 50% below last year’s level over the last five months, and we think that September sales will repeat the pattern," Pachter said.

What should be noted is that "below last year's level" for the month of August is still 277,000 units sold in the US alone (more than the 360 or the PS3). That's not bad at all. In fact, it's good. See, half of a bajillion kazillion is still a bajillion, and when Nintendo turns a profit on every system it sells I just don't see them desperately clawing for extra market space just because their competitors are seeing an increase in sales. While a Wii price drop is sure to be coming at some point in the future I don't think it will be because Nintendo came in first place yet again. 

Bottlerocket Entertainment -- developer of Rise of the Kasai (2005) and Xialoin Showdown (2006) -- is no more. In a recent e-mail sent to industry folks, the founder of the studio, Jay Beard, announced that his studio has closed. Broken, but not defeated, Beard also announced plans to create a new studio in the same electronic letter.

"It is with deep regret that I have to inform you of the closure of Bottlerocket, the e-mail reads (via GI.biz). “After fighting to keep the doors open for the past six months we have decided to close and move on.”

The studio will be forever tied to Splatterhouse -- a 2010 revision of the 1988 classic. Bottlerocket was developing the title, but was pulled from the project for an unknown performance-based reason by publisher Namco-Bandai.

After the project was pulled, several employees of the studio left and joined Namco-Bandai’s Afro Samurai team, who is now currently developing the remake.

"We had the opportunity to meet and work with many talented and passionate individuals along the way, and I want to take the opportunity to thank you all for everything that you did for BottleRocket. Seven years wasn't long enough for our plans to bear fruit; but it was a decent run.

"I am now in the process of building a new development studio from the ground up and look forward to us crossing paths once more."

Studio closures are a bummer. We wish Beard and his remaining crew the best, and hope that the new studio will indeed bear better fruit.

Sony has been going through a makeover ever since it announced the PS3 Slim. The PS3 logo has been redesigned, a new marketing campaign has been launched, and Sony itself has even given itself a snazzy new tag line. From now on, Sony's new corporate philosophy is "make.believe." That's some deep and meaningful sh*t right there.

"As we move to transform Sony and integrate the very best in electronics, entertainment and technology into the homes of our customers, the importance of an all-encompassing and unified brand image is more important than ever," says Sir Howard Stringer, Sony CEO. "In addition to reigniting the innovative spirit of our employees and our products, make.believe will differentiate us from countless competitors and inspire consumers around the world to embrace all that is Sony."

Of course, this is also a very fitting new tagline for Sony, since half of what's come out of the mouths of its executives over the past three years has, indeed, been "Make believe."

Yes, the only reason I decided to write about this was to make that OH-so clever little joke.

One major rule of PS3 exclusive games is that developers will lie about them and claim they couldn't work on the Xbox 360, even though they blatantly could with a bit of development skill. Cue Naughty Dog president Christophe Balestra, who is claiming that Uncharted 2 couldn't appear on the Xbox 360 even if Sony wasn't publishing it, because Microsoft's console couldn't handle all the science.

"I guarantee that this game couldn't be working on XBox 360. It would be impossible. I'm 100 percent sure of this," claims Balestra. "First of all, we fill the Blu-ray 100%, we have no room left on this one. We have 25GB of data; we're using every single bit of it.

"The fact that every PS3 has a hard drive is huge for us. It's the combination of Blu-ray and hard drive. You can play the entire game without loading. We don't require an install. We're doing all the post-processing effects on the SPUs [Synergistic Processing Units]. The quality of the depth of field we have, you can't do that on the Xbox."

I love it when PS3 developers make up stuff like this. Just because Naughty Dog is bloating the size of the game and not compressing anything, that doesn't mean it couldn't fit on a DVD. I'm yet to see a console exclusive that either console couldn't handle. I'd say that a developer claiming it "can't" be done says more about the proficiency of the studio than the power of the machine.

Shacknews brings even more bad news today as a series of layoffs have hit Maxis, the developers of Spore, The Sims and other Sim titles. Electronic Arts told Shacknews that:

"Often in the video game industry, the size of a studio fluctuates in response to business conditions. In this case, EA has taken action to reduce the workforce at Maxis as we focus the business and focus Maxis."

EA would not say how many people have been laid off, but Shack reports that there was a “sizable exodus” from Maxis.

As of late, there's been a rash of layoffs going around after the games were released. In this case, Maxis is still working on Spore Hero for the Wii and Spore Hero Arena for the DS, both of which should be out later this year.

Evil Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has been shooting his evil mouth off again, upsetting gamers with his evil opinions. This latest is aimed at those who want original IP, with Kotick arguing that people like sequels, so why bother doing anything new?

"A small segment of very vocal gamers say everything has to be new and different every year," explains Kotick (evilly). "Actually, people are happy with existing franchises, provided you innovate within them."

As much as I'd like to disagree with Kotick, I can't do so in good faith. What he says is true, people are happy to accept sequel after sequel after sequel. However, I wouldn't say that's a good thing, more a problem with the mainstream consumer. Just because a "small segment of very vocal gamers" believes something, that doesn't mean they're wrong. 

The problem with Activision is that it sees zero merit whatsoever in an original franchise that isn't whored out with endless sequels and spin-offs. There is room for both original, standalone titles and huge franchises, but with Activision, you need to guarantee that your game will see at least ten followups or it isn't interested. That, I think, is Kotick's biggest problem. 

Y'know, that and his blood pacts with Satan's grim wizards.

Cevat Yerli doesn’t shy away from next-generation hardware talk. For the last year or so, the Crytek CEO has made that his studio is preparing for the next line of consoles to drop in 2012. During a presentation at GDC Europe, Yerli again mentioned the year -- several times -- in conjunction with new hardware. After the presentation, Yerli explained to Joystiq that the next-generation of the CryEngine would be ready, even if console manufacturers are not.

"We will have our next engine ready by that, independently whether there will be hardware or not,” Yerli said. “We are assuming based on the cycle -- the Moore's Law -- and everything if you predict the computational power and trend. You kinda know how much CPU and GPU will be there and trend. If you take those things into account you can sort of predict where things are going."

2012 sounds like a good year to release something newer and more powerful. That is if we aren’t all dead by then. The Mayans know things.

GRIN’s situation was as dire as recent reports indicated. Following several office closures and heavy layoffs, GRIN announced that the studio is no more. In a somber message on its official Web site, founders Ulf and Bo Andersson cite delayed publisher payments as the reason for its closing.

“It is with a heavy heart we announce today that GRIN has been forced to close its doors,” the posting reads. “This as too many publishers have been delaying their payments, causing an unbearable cashflow situation.”

“After twelve years of hard work, employing hundreds of wonderfully talented men and women, it is over. It has been a great adventure and the GRIN family has experienced what few have.”

The studio experienced a meteoric rise and fall, penning several deals with publishers after proving themselves with two successful PC ports of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. The last two games from the studio were Bionic Commando and Terminator Salvation.  

[via Giantbomb]

Good news for those of you worried that the poor state of the economy is taking a toll on videogames -- numbers are up. Nielsen recently reported on their blog that numbers point to a stronger summer than last year's with a 21% increase from last year's figures. We also learned that just under 50% of gamers are over the age of 18 and that Xbox 360 and PS2 are neck and neck for the most played systems.

A sex specific portion of the survey also points out that more guys are playing the 360, more girls are playing the Wii, and the PS2 has an even amount of both. The number of people playing the PS3 is easily half of thos eplaying 360 and Wii, which makes me sad. I'm glad the PS2 still performs so well, but I want to see the PS3 do the same. What does it need to get here, you think -- more price drops?

[Via Edge]

Kevin Levine and 2K Boston’s upcoming and unannounced game is a shooter.

According to a GameSpot report, the studio responsible for BioShock, led by the man responsible for System Shock 2 and other dazzling titles, is currently hiring for its next project. In each of the listings the project is referred to as “an unannounced shooter”, a tantalizingly vague and previously unknown bit of information. It’s also referred to as a “big” project, which leads us to believe 2K Boston isn’t crafting a sequel to Geometry Wars or something along those lines.

As for what the game could be, well, we don’t know. It’s rumored currently as an X-COM title because Levine refused to comment if it would be in an interview.

I don't tend to get interested in the "business" end of gaming -- stock prices, mergers, hostlie takeovers, etc. I don't know a lot about business or economics and I'd rather be talking about actual games. However, I've been trying my best to follow Midway's downfall because I happen to have a soft spot for the much-beleaguered company. It probably stems from playing way too much Mortal Kombat as a kid, and way too much Blitz as a bigger, college-aged kid.

Unfortunately, it seems that the Midway saga has come to an end. "Substantially all" of the last Midway studio -- in San Diego -- is being bought by THQ, according to The Chicago Tribune, for a paltry $200,000. I don't know how much game studios generally cost, but I do know that $200,000 is nothing compared to the $49 million that Warner Brothers paid for the rest of Midway. Midway Newcastle, another studio left out of Warner Bros.' offer, closed a few weeks ago, making them the only studio to fall through the cracks.

Midway made a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission last Friday which stated that THQ is offering jobs to about 40 of Midway San Diego's 100 employees and may interview and hire more. The THQ buyout is still pending approval by the judge overseeing Midway's Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearings.

So, what does this mean for gamers? Well, THQ won't get the rights to Midway's TNA wrestling series (just the employees that made them). Given that THQ already owns the WWE license, having the rights to TNA would probably constitute a conflict of interest. Interestingly, Warner Bros. and THQ have agreed to share some of Midway's old intellectual properties, but I have no idea how that will play out.

While this seals Midway's fate, this news creates more questions than it answers: what will happen to the TNA license? How are Warner Bros. and THQ going to share IPs? And are any Midway games even relevant enough for us to care?

[Via Edge]

You and I both know that every person that has ever said, "If [so and so] gets elected, I'm moving to Canada!" is lying. Well, it seems that Canada is starting to call our bluff, doing everything it can to attract game developers to the area -- when Canadian provinces aren't duking it out over studios, the country's cultural industry agency, Telefilm, is handing out boatloads of cash, reports Gamasutra.

Recently, Telefilm has been giving Canadian indie development what I'm sure is a much-appreciated shot in the arm, handing out "repayable advances." Here's how they work: the loans must be paid back out of the game's profits, but not if the game doesn't make any money. Developers can knock off an extra 10% if they release English- and French-language versions.

So, who's been taking advantage of Canada's institutionalized dedication to cultural progress? Well, Metanet (the developers of N+) received a bit of change and Klei Entertainment received $70, 238 for Eets: Chowdown and Eets: Hunger. It's Emotional and $90,000 for the original PC version of Eets. Polytron Corporation, responsible for sure-to-be-hit Fez, were the proud recipient of $73,682, and Hothead Entertainment (of Penny Arcade fame) received $536,069 for DeathSpank, the latest game from Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert.

Unfortunately, it might not all be rainbows and ice cream sundaes and butterflies up North: Polytron's Jason DeGroot commented that while Telefilm did provide pre-production funding for Fez, they "decided to pull the carpet from beneath our feet for 2009," noting also that next year, the Canadian New Media Fund (where Telefilm gets these loans) will be merged into the Canadian Television Fund. Translation? In 2010, television, film, and games development will all be competing for the same pieces of the pie.

[Via GamePolitics]

It looks like one brave (if foolhardy) decision to set a game in Iraq has spelled death for one poor developer. While those that gathered around to criticize Six Days in Fallujah like flies on dogsh*t would likely be glad to hear this, it's sad that Atomic Games is now "pretty much dead."

"Out of 75 people, less than a dozen are left and about a third of that isn't even developers," a source told Industry Gamers. "The remaining team is basically a skeleton cleanup crew that will be gone soon too. They are trying to downplay the extent of these layoffs, but the reality is that Atomic is pretty much dead."

This word from the inside follows the news that Atomic had suffered staff cuts, but the extent of the damage was not made clear. If this source is to be believed, then it looks like Six Days has proven fatal for the studio. From the sounds of it, Konami has essentially hung Atomic Studios out to dry, killing off the entire company due to cold feet. 

It's really sad, too. Konami had no real business attaching its name to the project if it didn't have the balls to see it through. Atomic's dead in the water because it dared to try something different, even if it did so with a slight naivety in regards to the backlash that was in store. Sad state of affairs indeed.

Expect blockbuster action in the Wheel of Time videogames. Professional screenwriter Chris Morgan is directing the story for Red Eagle Entertainment’s forthcoming videogame series. Morgan is the writer of numerous Hollywood flicks including such greats as Cellular, Wanted, The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

The Wheel of Time series is a mess of cold stares and plot holes, but we’re guessing that’s not why Morgan was given the job as story director. The videogame series is described as a set of games “derived” from Robert Jordan’s fiction, thus -- and we’re guessing here -- writers are need to plug in whatever game-y elements are needed to flesh out the digital experience.

We’re cool with this choice as long as we don’t glimpse Rand steering his horse around slick street bends or evading police in future teaser trailers. That would be a bigger bummer than the typical cold (or icy) stare.

In an attempt to stave off impending closure, Midway Newcastle spent its last month working on and, more importantly, pitching Necessary Force to potential buyers. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful, and the company was closed on July 14. Personally, I'm sad to see Midway go, especially since Necessary Force looked to have a fair amount of potential.

For a brief and emotive glance into Midway Newcastle's last few weeks, you should make it a point to check Steven Pick's personal account of the ordeal. Before he was rather unceremoniously laid off, Pick was a GUI artist for Midway and helped put together some of the promotional artwork for Necessary Force, as well as working on the game itself. While a lot of the account is a very personal sketch of what it's like to be laid off, he also talks a fair bit about Necessary Force:

I spent the time producing graphics and concepts for the cop's PDA unit, which would be an integral part of the evidence gathering and manipulation. We had a lot of nice ideas for the game - for instance, the morality system affected the weather and time of day too. If you were a bad-ass cop, the days would feel shorter, and it would rain more often. This was also linked to a system where the city would systematically be cleaned up - more desirable pedestrians, graffiti taken off walls and newer, more optimisitc buildings taking the place of the run-down buildings.

Pick's piece is really interesting on a number of levels: as a gamer, it's too bad I won't get to play Necessary Force; as a blogger, it's interesting to note that northeastern England has just lost "a third" of its development community.

Most importantly, Pick humanizes the development process. Writers and fan alike are quick to excoriate mediocrity (and rightly so!), but we should all take some time to remember that real people with real emotions make these games -- reading Steven Pick's blog would be a good place to start.

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]

A Crimson Skies sequel could happen. If it does, it seems likely that its original creator, Jordan Weisman, and his studio, Smith & Tinker, won’t handle the game.

Speaking with GameSpot, Weisman confirmed that he still thinks about the high-flying property and plans to do something with it, but those plans won’t include to Smith & Tinker: "I think Crimson Skies is something we'd love to get some energy around, and we have some devious plans -- we'll see if those materialize."

"The older properties -- MechWarrior, Crimson Skies, Shadowrun, those kinds of things -- those are kind of grandfathered in," Weisman said. "They're not really what we're all about, and we won't be developing and publishing those ourselves as a result. We'll be, like we are now, talking to other publishers and finding good homes for those, but they're not what Smith & Tinker at its core is about."

That core may or may not be creating content for children.

Weisman was a founder of Microsoft’s dissolved studio, FASA, the brains behind the aforementioned titles. Smith & Tinker and Pirahna Games are doing something new with MechWarrior, but -- there’s always a “but” with these guys -- the game currently doesn’t have a publisher and doesn’t seem like the kind of game you let Billy-the-seven-year-old play.

We’d welcome another Crimson Skies -- especially if it allowed players to leave their crafts and navigate using a jetpack. Also, vertical shooting and cover mechanics would be great, too. Oh! That’s Dark Void. Whoops.

[via Eurogamer]

Ever since Microsoft revealed Project Natal, it now thinks it's Nintendo. The smug, pretentious, all-knowing statements coming out of the mouths of MS executives seems ripped straight from the Big N playbook, typified by today's little pearl of wisdom -- that thinking about consoles is an "old treadmill" way of thinking.

"The 'next generation' will be defined by software and services, not hardware," says Shane Kim, whose company is bringing out hardware that he's personally likened to a new generation. "In the past we would always get this question, 'Hey, there's a new console launch every five years and you're coming up on that time for Xbox, right?' That's the old treadmill way of thinking.

"Before you had things that were very obvious, from a hardware standpoint--pushing more pixels, the move from 2D to 3D, 3D to HD, etc. We got a very powerful piece of hardware in Xbox 360. I am confident that we have more headroom available, in terms of developers and creators figuring out how to get more out of the system."

All we need now is for Kim to talk about "blue oceans" and "disrupting the market" and he'll be indistinguishable from Reggie Fils-Aime.

Several of Destructoid's hardcore Silent Hill fans (myself included) loved Silent Hill:Homecoming, but the word on the street was that most people had a negative reaction to the title. There's no way to know if poor sales are related to this newest development, but it seems as if developers Foundation 9 have announced the merging of their Griptonite and Amaze studios (both Washington based). Austin, Texas based division Fizz Factor has also been closed completely.

Double Helix Games also suffered staff cuts, and Foundation 9 said it would suspend matching payments in its 401k program. Seems like the economy issues are still causing turmoil, even within the games industry. I'm hoping for more from Foundation 9 in the future, so let's hope these cute are beneficial to them.

[Venturebeat Via Gamasutra]

Oooh Lord. Where to even start with this one? Let's get right to it: Electronic Arts and Visceral Games have cooked up another awful PR campaign for Dante's Inferno called "Sin to Win." If alienating Catholic gamers at last month's E3 wasn't bad enough, Visceral and EA can mark "women" off the list of potential buyers.

Here's the set up: commit an "act of lust" by taking a photo with any booth babe at this year's Comic-Con; submit the photo via the @Danteteam Twitter or on Facebook; win a date with "two hot girls." In short, as if being a booth babe weren't already creepy enough, EA has given everyone at Comic Con some extra incentive to ogle not only their own booth babes, but any booth babe at the con.

To be honest, I don't really know how to feel about this. One the one hand, the job description for "model" opens women up to this sort of thing: models exist, inherently, to be objectified and sell products. Obviously, these girls don't have any moral opposition to it, or they wouldn't have taken their clothes off and signed EA's contract (not necessarily in that order.) Besides, pictures with booth babes are a convention staple -- it's going to happen either way.

On the other hand, there's something repulsive about offering people up as prizes in your PR stunt, especially given game culture's bad habit of over-sexualizing its female characters anyway. And while our beautiful free market ideally allows booth babes to opt out of stunts like this at their discretion, let's be realistic: living in California ain't cheap and the rent still has to get paid. Even if there's nothing technically wrong going on here, it's still sleazy and, at the very least, alienating.

To make things worse, EA seems to have its wires crossed here. Even though the flyer (in the gallery) says "take a photo," it also says "commit an act of lust." I've seen some of the more, ahem, creative photos you guys have managed to come up with for our contests (or just for lulz), and I can't imagine what the people at Comic-Con will come up with. Too bad it won't win them anything: the contest has a legal disclaimer disqualifying any mention of sex.

Not to mention that EA has stupidly opened this up for any booth babe on the floor. I'm sure whoever is working, say, the Capcom booth didn't sign up for this sh*t. You stay classy, Electronic Arts.

We reported yesterday that two Visceral Games executives had left the company responsible for Dead Space and Dante's Inferno to form a new Bay Area Activision studio, but now we know a few more specifics on the project they will be heading.

Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, according to IndustryGamers, will be working on a new game based on an existing Activision franchise. The information came from an Activision Blizzard representative, who also said we won't be getting "more details regarding the game" until "a later date." Ah, shucks.

So, there you have it. If it ends up being Call of Duty, which almost seems too obvious a choice, I will be sad. On the other hand, feel free to do what you guys want ... so long as I still get my Dead Space 2 and it is just as good as the original.

Hispanics make up a considerable portion of the population in the United States, especially the further south you get. And, according to GameStop COO Paul Raines, they're buying videogames. Raines attributed a large portion of GameStop's explosive sales growth in recent years to Hispanic customers and noted that the chain's highest performing stores lie closest to the border with Mexico, causing the company to consider retail expansion into that country.

If the demographic is making such a significant impact on the industry, why aren't more games being marketed towards it? Well, Raines thinks that may be about to change, and he has even gone so far as to have conversations with big publishers such as Activision about creating games specifically for the market. He's hoping that a successful release of DJ Hero could mean a start in that direction coming from a music game based around a Latin music superstar, such as Shakira.

Sounds like a positive thing to me. Anything that makes games appeal to more people in more places is good for all of us.

In his latest column on IndustryGamers, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich suggests that the growth of peripheral-based music games may have already hit the ceiling. With sales in the genre down 30% from last year, he compares Rock Band and Guitar Hero to the granddaddy of rhythm-matching titles, Dance Dance Revolution. Divinich makes a compelling argument that sales of the games may already be in a state of irreversible decline.

There are a number of reasons for the games to be taking a sales hit, but they all come down to the amount of innovation being seen in each iteration being staggeringly small. Peripheral-based games need to be designed with the hardware of previous releases in mind, limiting the amount of design change that can be made. Competing developers pumping out lower-quality games also force publishers to try and cash in on their IP with more frequent releases and the reduction in development time restricts the implementation of new ideas as well.

None of this is to say that these games will not continue to be successful, but the expectation that the audience for Rock Band and Guitar Hero will keep expanding as it has over the last few years is probably unrealistic. The question is, what more can anyone really do?

Really, it’s okay to shed a tear or two if you’re a Madden fan who doesn’t have an Xbox 360 and an Xbox Live Gold account. I’m doing it right now, since I only own a PS3.

Last week, EA Sports said that the free demo of Madden NFL 10 -- featuring a snowy Cowboys-Giants night game -- would be available next Thursday, July 30th, on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. But the wording in the press release (“demo will be released to Xbox LIVE Silver subscribers and the PlayStation Store”) was suspicious, and now we know why.

This afternoon, Microsoft announced (see press release after the jump) that the demo will actually hit Xbox Live a week early -- on Thursday, July 23rd -- but only for Xbox Live Gold members. In addition, Inside Xbox will feature “exclusive interviews and previews” on July 30th, when the demo will be made available to Xbox Live Silver members (and the PlayStation Network). So rejoice, you lucky bastards; you’ll get to hold it over our heads for a week.

I’m getting a free copy of the game, though, so I win in the end. Yeah, I went there.

[Image via misocrazy on Flickr]

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Braid creator Jonathan Blow is looking for a concept artist and a lead artist for an unannounced game. According to the official Braid blog, this new title is a “puzzle-exploration game that is philosophical and quiet” and not being created for big money, although we're fairly certain Blow will be showered with it once it releases considering how awesome Braid was.

In the blurb about the lead artist position, it’s mentioned that the game will have a “heavy emphasis on the way things look,” which we'll take to mean that the game won’t be driven by violence. A point the job listing backs up by a caveat: Blow doesn’t want to see portfolio full of monsters or battle rifles. 

We guessing this new thing won’t be Gears of War 3. Bummer.

[Thanks, Benoit!]

Recently, gaming’s Nostradamus, Michael Pachter, confirmed that Rockstar North was working on Grand Theft Auto V. In the same statement, Pachter said that he expected GTA V to drop at some point in 2010 or at the latest, 2011. Interesting. We decided to reach out and see what another analyst thought. Enter EEDAR's director of analyst services.

Analyst director Jesse Divnich agrees that GTA V is happening, however, Divnich isn’t exactly buying Pachter’s timeline. According to Divnich, Take-Two’s 2010 portfolio is off the chain, and if the Agent drops in the same year, GTA V could “cannibalize” sales of the new IP. So, even if GTA V was completed before October 31, 2010, he believes Take-Two would be shooting itself in the foot by releasing it in 2010.

Analyst fight.

“Rockstar North’s primary development team is currently focusing on two titles, GTA V and Agent. It is correct that there is a small subset team whose only job is to work on upcoming GTA IV DLC,” Divnich told Destructoid.

“Given the delay of the original GTA IV, it would be difficult to conclude with certainty that the next installment will hit before October 31st 2010. Furthermore, Take-Two is already on track to obliterate our wallets over the next 12 months with BioShock 2, Max Payne 3, Borderlands, Mafia II, Red Dead Redemption, and Agent,” he continued. “I do not see the financial need to stack their next fiscal year -- ending October 31, 2010 -- anymore than it already is. In addition, if Agent is released in 2010, I would expect it in the back-half, which if a GTA V was to hit store shelves plus or minus three months of that date, it could cannibalize sales.”

We asked CEO cat* when it thought GTA V would drop. It looked at us, blinked a few times, then went back to sleep again. We’ll take that to mean 2011.

^{*CEO cat doubles as our analyst in times of dire need.}

Apparently, EA Sports chief Peter Moore is well suited for his job.

According to FIFA 10 producer David Rutter (speaking with VideoGamer.com), the guy runs marathons and used to play semi-pro soccer in England. The Liverpool native is also a big fan of his hometown Liverpool F.C. (but does he know all the words to "You Will Never Walk Alone"?), and can hit the crossbar from the center line of a soccer pitch (about 55 yards).

“No honestly. Honestly. He’s a very, very good football player. He’s always ribbing me, because I run marathons occasionally and he’s run marathons as well. He’s a pretty sprightly old dude," says Rutter.

I've been playing soccer for years and couldn't do that. The last time I even touched a soccer ball, I was trying to knock an empty beer can off a crossbar from about 15 yards. I couldn't do it, of course, because I just finished drinking that one and several others before. I sprained my foot in the process.

Moving on! When asked about using motion-controlled technology in FIFA, Rutter explained that "there are a few things we could do, which we’re thinking about doing at the moment. But it’s not something that’s suddenly going to manifest itself in FIFA 10.”

FIFA 11, on the other hand, would be a better bet, but only if it contributed something special to the game, explained Rutter:

I’m a big fan of -- and I’ve said it a number of times and I’ll say it again -- if it’s not good enough it won’t make it in. Don’t just want to put something in because it’s something we’re asked to do or it’s something people think we should. If it doesn’t add to the overall thing, then it’s pointless. I don’t want it to be just this distraction, to be quite honest.

I'm not a very creative person -- which is why I write about games instead of design them -- but I can't even begin to imagine how Microsoft's Natal or Sony's motion controller would work in a game like FIFA. Do you guys have any ideas?

The studio behind the recently uncovered game Duke Begins is Gearbox Software.

Earlier this afternoon, Shacknews uncovered more court papers from the ongoing Take-Two versus 3D Realms legal proceedings. The fresh filings are from the Duke Nukem Forever publisher in response to 3D Realms countersuit. On the eighth page of counter-counter-claims Take-Two writes:

Under the 2007 Agreement, any modification to the development schedule for the Duke Begins game, following Final Concept Approval (as defined in the 2007 Agreement), is permitted without Apogee's consent provided that both 2K Games and Gearbox (as defined in the 2007 Agreement) consent to the change.

Before this document -- and even leading up to page seven in it -- the developer of Duke Begins has always been referred to as a “third-party developer” or a “well-known videogame developer.” Consider this great mystery solved.

Interestingly, it appears as though Duke Begins hasn’t been canned. In the filings, Take-Two claims it has merely been put on hold. We look forward to seeing it in action at some point in 2040.

[via Shacknews]

[Update: We dropped the ball on this one, folks. We apologize. Look below for a totally different story. We apologize.]

One of the studios left behind in the Midway Games/Warner Bros. Interactive deal, Midway Newcastle, was closed this morning. Midway CEO Matt Booty went to the UK-based studio this morning, delivered the grim news to the 80 or so employees currently working at the Midway branch.

In a statement given to Kotaku, Midway spokesman Geoffrey Mogilner said Midway was unable to get a suitable buyer for the studio in the timeframe allotted.

“We can confirm we closed the Newcastle studio this morning, our time," Mogilner said. "During the notification period we were actively searching for bidders, and since we didn't find any unfortunately it was necessary to close it down.

Warner possesses the rights to Wheelman, a former Midway Newcastle IP, but the publisher doesn’t own the rights to Necessary Force, a game the UK-studio recently revealed. Currently, Necessary Force doesn’t have a buyer.

[via Kotaku]

Don’t expect to see id Software’s name on the next Elder Scrolls title. Speaking with GI.biz, Bethesda super executive Pete Hines confirmed that id Software would continue to do its own thing post-acquirement. In other words, the once-independent studio won’t be messing with any traditional properties owned by Bethesda. Instead, id will work on its own titles: Doom 4, RAGE and “whatever else it is they’d like to do.”

"id has plenty of their own IP to keep themselves busy," Hines said. "It was their desire to build to three teams and bring the development of their IP in-house. So we'll help them build up to the three full teams a little faster, now that they have additional resources, and they'll work on RAGE and Doom 4 and whatever else it is they'd like to do."

"But with Quake, Doom, Wolfenstein, and RAGE, they already have more IP than they have teams to work on them. So right now creating new IP or having them work on our Bethesda IP isn't even being considered."

Oddly enough, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion may have benefitted from id Software’s touch. Oblivion Gates were essentially open-world monster closets.

Still, we can’t dismiss how great these two studios operate independently. We’re glad id Software is getting the financial support it needs, but we don’t like pouring orange juice on our cereal in the morning. Keep them seperate for now, ZeniMax.

Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has weighed in on the Prototype versus inFAMOUS debate with numbers. According to EEDAR estimates, Prototype is set to outsell inFAMOUS by a dazzling 90 percent when combining the sales of the multiplatform releases of Prototype. However, inFAMOUS is expected to sell between at least 35 to 50 percent more on the PlayStation 3 than Activision’s title.

As noted in the blurb we received about the sales estimates, these numbers carry some meaning with publishers. Nobody was hurt by the exclusive release of inFAMOUS, but the potential of making more money by spreading the console love is obviously present. I asked EEDAR's director of analyst services Jesse Divinich if money given for exclusivity would balance the numbers in some way. He said it wouldn't.

"SCEA published inFAMOUS, so I would venture to guess they paid nothing for exclusivity. Sucker Punch, the developers, have only done PlayStation 2 and 3 titles," he told me via e-mail. "They are most known for the Sly Cooper series. I am sure Sucker Punch receives a lot of financial incentives to stay exclusive to Sony, which likely takes the form of higher royalty percentage points on gross sales."

"Sony is not in the financial position to pay for exclusive releases at the moment," he added "which limits exclusive releases to first-party published titles. They openly admit that they won’t pay for exclusive DLC."

Things may be different with the recently announced and unknown PlayStation-3 exclusive The Agent. Divinich reckons Sony is providing something.

"The Agent, a Rockstar title, is a PS3 exclusive and I do imagine Sony is providing some support on the backend, whether that is financial support or technological support is unknown to the public. However, Rockstar is a very intrepid developer; they would do a PS3 exclusive and make it profitable just for the challenge."

While these estimates tickle the brain, we’re more interested in knowing the answer to the million-dollar question: who would win in a fight to the death, Cole MacGrath or Alex Mercer? Divinich answered.

"In an environment without chain linked fences or strewed about gardening hoses? Cole all the way."

Oh Eidos, your PR department is really, really bad at keeping this crap under wraps, aren't you? The company has become notorious for trying to fix and/or "encourage" high review scores for its games, first becoming infamous as a central figure in the Jeff Gerstman/Kane & Lynch Gamespot controversy and then making waves for meddling with Tomb Raider reviews. Now the company's at it again, this time with Batman: Arkham Asylum.

According to The RAM Raider, Eidos has been "encouraging" review scores of 90% and above by offering an early embargo break to any magazine that gives Arkham Asylum such a rating. Not only that, but willing magazines also have to make Eidos' Batman game the cover story for that issue. If you can guarantee a 90% score and a front cover, you can run your review earlier. 

This is, sadly, a common practice. I've been made similar offers by other publishers in the past, none of which have particularly interested me. However, the fact that it's Eidos, yet again, that can't cover up its chicanery is hilarious. If Eidos wants to be a corrupt, politicking, shady publisher, that's up to them -- however, they're going to have to learn to get way better at making sure people don't find out about it. 

Eidos, for their part, are denying the allegations, claiming that there is "not one single shred of truth" to the story. Considering the fact they've done it before, coupled with the other fact that it's been done many times in the past by other companies, I don't see why now would be any different from Eidos' usual MO.

Two Canadian provinces, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, have agreed to a bare-knuckle brawl to the death, both hoping to curry the favor of Longtail Studios, an iPhone and Wii developer based in New York. Twenty-three Longtail employees currently work in a Charlottetown, P.E.I. office, but they were offered the chance to pack up and move to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Ok, the bare-knuckle boxing bit may bit something of a hyperbole, but it's a lot more interesting than P.E.I.'s actual plan: throwing subsidies and tax breaks at Longtail until they agree to stick around. Speaking with CBC News, P.E.I.'s Innovation Minister, Allan Campbell, mentioned that he is "concerned about the possible loss of these positions on P.E.I."

The fact that Canadian provinces even have Innovation Ministers who are willing to fight for their videogame studios -- his office is currently trying "to put together a package that is attractive to the company and that incites them to remain here on P.E.I.” -- might explain why Canada's global ranking has been climbing steadily in the past few years. They're still behind the United States and Japan, but ahead of the United Kingdom and France. As for the U.S., Georgia has also recently instituted legislation that would give its game studios tax breaks, but I wish the practice were more widespread. That is how we could have nice things.

Longtail also has offices in Quebec City, Quebec, but no one seems to be fighting over that one. ""Why Nova Scotia in particular has targeted this particular company, I'm not sure about that," continued Campbell. 

Longtail Studios was created in 2003 by Gerard Guillemot, a Ubisoft co-founder (a brother of current Ubi CEO, Yves). Their official Web site is under construction, and they're currently hiring senior developers. Most recently, they developed Grey's Anatomy for the Wii.

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]

It seemed like only a few months ago when, after being bought out by Square Enix, Eidos boss Phil Rogers was making remarks about how excited he was that the Eidos brand name would remain intact through the merger. Well, that's still kind of true, but not quite as true as it could be.

According to Gamesindustry.biz, Square Enix is restructuring its publishing duties, creating a new company tentatively named "Square Enix Europe." Moving forward, all Square Enix and Eidos games in Europe will be published by the new company, led by Rogers. Conversely, publishing in the United States will fall to Square Enix' regional office.

As far as I understand it, Eidos is simply getting a name change, and business, by and large, will continue as usual: what-used-to-be-Eidos will publish Square Enix games in Europe, and Square will publish them in Japan and the U.S.

However, some jobs will be lost in the move, according to a statement released by the company: "Unfortunately we are expecting some jobs to be impacted directly by this in both Europe and North America," read a statement from the company. "We are hoping to minimise this wherever possible and offer support and advice to any employees directly affected."

While it's out of the publishing game, the Eidos name will continue to be associated with the various development studios throughout the world; their bosses just have a new name now.

[Via TombRaider Fanboy]