It seems Bioware isn’t changing strategies when it comes to advertising Dragon Age games. Present a God of War style we’re so hardcore attitude, and then cover it in blood. Dissappointing that they continue to treat the most traditional franchise they have, and the fans of classic western style RPG’s with so little respect.
EA finally released some media for the Alice sequel Alice: Madeness Returns. It looks like the real deal, the same atmosphere and style with a modern graphical upgrade. The teaser trailer is short, but shows us that they won’t be holding back on the weird for the sake of grabbing the mainstream audience, This is a true sequel to a flawed classic of PC gaming.
EA today announced their latest Maxis game Darkspore. Not a very creative name for a Spore spinoff, though I suppose it’s better than Spore: Dark.
Darkspore will be a Diablo style game with the twist on the formula being that you upgrade using parts created with an updated version of the Spore creature creator.
Darkspore is planned for an early 2011 release for the PC.
Surprising absolutely nobody, it appears the formerly Wii exclusive arcade basketball title NBA Jam will be making it’s way to the HD platforms 360 & Playstation 3. Discovered, as these things often are, via a ratings board the German USK has rated NBA Jam for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 release. It’s not known at this time whether or not this will be a disc release or a downloadable title, though it would seem somewhat insane to undercut full price disc release sales on one platform by releasing the same game as a lower price download on two other platforms.
Electronic Arts publishers of major video game franchises such as Madden NFL 10, and Mirror’s Edge, have revealed new downloadable content for their free to play online murder simulator Battlefield Heroes, that will allow you to kill Michael Jackson like characters.
Originally they were going to charge for these Michael Jackson costumes, but due to a misinterpretation of customer outrage they have decided to simply promote the game by giving them away for free.
From Peter Moore’s “blog”:
Looks like every other fucking football game in the history of fucking football games to me, but if you’re in to that sort shit there ya go. Click the shiny helmet for the full size image.
From Fortune’s Tech Daily blog:
During a recent gathering at Berkeley Haas School of Business, Riccitiello talked about four lessons he’s learned since he joined EA as President in 1997.
Embrace change even if it costs a lot. A half century ago the three major networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — were so dominant that they resisted change. Thirty years ago the three networks had more than 90 percent of the television market. Today, the big three account for less than half. “They were extremely arrogant,” Riccitiello says. “They viewed the rise of cable as being insignificant.
Riccitiello says the $31 billion gaming industry will suffer if it doesn’t start to reevaluate its business model. Game executives at Sony (SNE), Microsoft (MSFT) and Activision (ATVI) must answer some tough questions in the coming years, like how long they can expect consumers to pay $59 for a video game. Riccitiello predicts the model will be obsolete in the next decade.
“In the next five years, we’re all going to have to deal with this. In China, they’re giving games away for free,” he says. “People who benefit from the current model will need to embrace a new revenue model, or wait for others to disrupt.” As more publishers transition to making games for online distribution, Riccitiello says he expects EA will experiment with different pricing models.
Primotech is reporting that BioWare’s new MMO will be based in the Star Wars KOTOR universe, saying:
“A source close to BioWare confirmed to us today that the studio’s upcoming untitled massively-multiplayer online RPG will be centered around the Star Wars universe, specifically that of Knights of the Old Republic, which the developer released in 2003.”
No one seems to be denying this, and Primotech is standing by their story insisting that this is not just a rumor. A chance at owning the next World of Warcraft would explain EA’s willingness to drop a few hundred million for BioWare. It better not turn out to be Star Wars Galaxies 2.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O), the world’s biggest video game publisher, said on Monday it will delay “Army of Two” to early next year, saying it needed more time to polish the military combat game.
“Army of Two,” in which players play as one of a pair of mercenaries carrying out missions, was originally slated to be released on November 13 for Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) Xbox 360 and Sony Corp’s (6758.T) PlayStation 3 consoles.
“‘Army of Two’ has potential to become a lasting EA franchise — so getting the first title right is essential,” Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, said in a statement.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said he had expected the game to do about $54 million in revenue in EA’s fiscal third quarter, which runs through December and was expected to bring the company revenue of $1.6 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
“It’s an important game for them if they hope to establish it as a franchise,” Pachter said. “It shouldn’t have much of an impact, but the market always seems to assume the worst about the company.”