Long Time No Posts

I have been extremely busy with my day job. Other than trying to play Mario Kart Wii like a professional mushroom kingdom driver, I try to keep tabs on the goings on of the gaming industry. Here are a few briefs if you have been under a rock for several days (weeks).

-EA/Take-Two Deal : Deadline has come and gone, EA's hostile takeover bid was unsuccessful. GTA's 500million first week was probably proof to the investors that they did the right thing.

-Big names pull out of the ESA. Early last week several of the big names opted not to renew their support for the Entertainment Software Association The list includes Activision, Lucas Arts, and EA. E3 is scheduled to go on as planned.

-Doom 4 has been announced. Id Software on both Console and PC development to combat piracy.

-GTA 4 sells $500 million in the first week of sales beating out Halo 3's $300 million launch. However to note that GTA was a 360/PS3 exclusive. PC fans normally wait 7-9 months for a port. Maybe X-mas time?

-EA gets burned on Pay to Play upgrades in Battlefield: Bad Company. Unlocks now available through play, and if you buy the Limited Edition Collectors pack. BF: Heroes promises free core content, only charging for EXP boots for players with little time to dedicate.

NEWS FLASH: Electronic Arts vs. Take Two Interactive

Just breaking news via GamePolitics.com, EA announced today that it would be making a bid to buy all of Take-Two public holdings in an attempt at a hostile takeover. Subsequently, Take-Two responded shortly thereafter to let EA know that they weren't going down with out a fight. Siting that EA's opportunity was not about creative freedoms, but about EA's bottom line. This is all on the heels of the hotly anticipated release of GTA4. The latest installment of Take-Two's largest franchise, and one of the biggest in gaming history. Not to mension EA's CEO admitting to screwing up smaller companies in the past. Origin, responsible for the Wing Commander Series and Janes Flight Simulators; also BullFrog created by Peter Molyneux(left after EA tookover), and Westwood Studios responsible for the Command and Conquer Series, all had been taken under the "EA Wing" so to speak. One must ask, where are they now? Still working at EA? Speculation leads us to belive that probably not all of them. I'm sure they are all working somewhere. This was more of a case of give me your Brandings and Trademarks and we will give you a few million dollars to retire on. Are there lessons learned from the past at all? EA is on a collission course with the Galaxy and Take-Two won't have it. A modern day David v. Goliath case.

Rockstar Games = Brintey Spears of Game Devs

Alright, you have probably heard already, hackers have discovered the uncut content from Rockstar's controversial new game Manhunt 2. Game Politics has the full story. What seems the be the problem you say? Second time hackers have been able to get at cut content. Last year it was the Hot Coffee Debockle. It may seem that Rockstar just doesnt care. It seems that Jack Thompson will probably jump at the opportunity to spearhead an attack on the gaming industry using this as an example of how video game companies and the products they sell are the work of the devil and are an abomination to man-kind.

Fuck Rockstar. They are going to either put the ESRB in a state of Government regulation, or go bankrupt from the incessant lawsuits being filed against their company. I'm sure politicians are going to jump on this ship like little termites in fresh pine. Somethin's gotta give, and it sure as shit ain't gonna be Congress or Jack Thompson.

Side Note Here:

This is a big F-U to Faux (Fox) News. I can't believe you let Jack-ass Thompson show his face on TV. The overzealous pundit only spews propaganda, but I guess I should expect too much from a network that hires, fires, and re-hires Heraldo. Too bad there isn't enough news for the 24-hour news channels to cover. I guess the world doesn't spin quite fast enough for some of us.

More Sony Woes

It's pretty widely know around the gameing community that Sony's Next Gen console is not doing so hot. The NDP numbers are continuing to show the PS3 on the bottom of the sales charts, coming in a dismal third. Price cuts have been announced to try and move units this holiday season. Rumors are circulating around the net of Sony Execs begging developers to make games. As Gabe Newell of Valve consistently rags about, the Playstation is hard to make games for. It has way more complicated architecture, thus multiplying the complexity of game design.

Now, evidence has surfaced on how a Sony Europe employee leaked a copy of Take-Two Interactive's controversial game, "Manhunt2". The leak sprang in the middle of a heated lawsuit between an activist Lawyer and the game developer.

GamePolitics.com has the full story.

Just what Sony needs now, Eh? I'm excited to see the outcome of what' taking place. Maybe developers will stop trusting Sony, and stop making game's for their overpriced game machine. Who knows. Only time will tell. Are the rats already starting to jump ship? Yikes!