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EA is really cashing in on The Sims now

Posted May 15th, 2008 at 4:09pm

Next up: The Sims 2 The Sims, where your sims can play The Sims while you watch.

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Release date for European Rock Band yanked

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 3:11am

The story is pretty simple, really: First, Electronic Arts said that Rock Band - their massively popular multi-player music game - would be released in Europe on August 29 for Playstation 2, Playstation 3 and Wii. As a side note, The Xbox 360 version is slated to hit shelves on May 23, which would have given them a roughly 3-month jump on the other platforms. Then today EA changed their minds and said that the PS2/PS3/Wii versions of Rock Band wouldn't be released in Europe on August 29th after all, citing that a mistake in the fact sheet. So (to recap): The European Xbox 360 version of Rock Band will be out May 23, the PS2/PS3/Wii versions at some other, yet-unspecified date. Glad we got that cleared up. Other details seem to be unchanged: Rock Band is reportedly going to be sold with the drum kit, guitar, and microphone controllers for GBP 129.99 / EUR 169.99. That clocks in at a whopping $350 USD (approximately), which is glaring when you consider that the kit sells for $169 in North America. Or you could put that $350 USD into instrument lessons. Just saying.

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Army of Two can’t seem to steal Call of Duty 4’s thunder

Posted April 14th, 2008 at 11:11pm

Electronic Arts, publisher of the wildly successful Call of Duty 4, describes competitors' attempts to usurp the first person shooter's pole position as "failing to inspire". EA marketing guy David Tyler wasn't shy about reminding print mag MCV about who's number one where the shooter genre is concerned: "We're pleased to have Call of Duty 4 leading the way in the FPS genre, with recent launches such as Army of Two and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 failing to inspire." Sure, it's a bit like asking a Ford dealer if he likes the latest products from Honda, but EA has sold more than 1.3 copies of CoD4 in the UK alone, so he has reason to be smug. "One of the things we've seen is that people outside of what you'd consider 'normal' gamers, are actually getting into this a lot, including quite a number of celebrities." I'm not sure what the celebrity angle is supposed to leverage for him. Personally, if I knew Tom Cruise and Steve O were on the other end of the server, I might just log off.

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Hollywood worried that video games sap money from their crappy movies

Posted April 14th, 2008 at 10:43pm

In an interesting piece over at Destructoid, they cite an interview with Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello from The Financial Times in which he states that Hollywood is concerned about the waxing of the video gaming industry. This issue has more recently come to the fore as whisperings around Hollywood demonstrate some tension that the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, which coincides with the release of summer box office blockbuster Iron Man, will put a dent in profits for the film by keeping moviegoers at home playing games. I've heard this concern discussed around the web lately and the off-the-cuff joke that always seems to get made at Hollywood's expense is: Stop making movies that suck and maybe you won't have that problem. It's sort of a tired joke now and it's been applied so liberally to the discussion that its mostly lost its teeth. This puts me in a bit of a difficult position because, when I think of how to reply to Hollywood's concerns, my first and last response is: Stop making movies that suck. Yeah, it's been said. Yeah, it's a pat answer. Yeah, it's a cliche. For those reasons I am reluctant to say it again, but one must call a spade a spade: Overpriced formulaic movies with rehashed plots, predictable endings and only modestly competent actors which will only arrive on DVD (and, thus, Bit Torrent) 6 weeks later are much of a lure to get people to the local Googleplex. I would play

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Take-Two sayeth “Nay” to Electronic Arts

Posted March 26th, 2008 at 10:57pm

Yahoo has the story today about how Take-Two Interactive (makers of well-known games like Grand Theft Auto) have once again instructed Electronic Arts to directly address the hand. As has been discussed at length in the news for a while, EA is working hard to take over Take-Two... and, so far, failing. As Yahoo reports, it's a simple case of not enough dough.The Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO - News) today announced that it has thoroughly reviewed Electronic Arts Inc.’s (NASDAQ: ERTS; EA ) unsolicited conditional tender offer with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors and unanimously determined that the $26.00 per share cash offer is inadequate in multiple respects and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two’s stockholders. Accordingly, the Board recommends that stockholders not tender any of their shares to EA. The basis for the Board’s unanimous decision is set forth in Take-Two’s Schedule 14D-9 filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two, commented, Take-Two’s Board of Directors and senior management team were put in place less than one year ago with one mandate: maximize stockholder value. We have maintained a single-minded focus on that goal ever since and it remains the guiding principle in every decision we make with regard to Take-Two." Okeydokey

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The Take Two takeover attempts inspire ironic video game

Posted March 20th, 2008 at 10:06pm

Those of you who have been following the ongoing story of Electronic Arts attempt to take over Take Two Interactive will be interested to know that EA is continuing to apply the pressure, and is blocking Take Two's exit routes from the acquisition. Gigantic Game Publisher EA (known for triple-A games like The Sims) has been trying for a while to buy Take Two Interactive (known for one of my favorite games, Max Payne, among other popular titles), but their offer of $2 billion was refused and, since then, have become more hostile. Forbes reports that EA CEO John Riccitiello has gone to shareholders but, more interestingly (at least to us), game developer Steve Meretzky (known for having worked on Zoo Tycoon) has been working on a game called Videogame Tycoon for some time now... and the recent drama between EA and Take Two has only inspired him to go further.Since Meretzky worked on "Videogame Tycoon," the idea has only grown more relevant, with Vivendi seizing control of Activision last year and Electronic Arts launching its hostile bid for Take-Two. Even software giant Microsoft's effort to grab Yahoo! plays into the theme, since Microsoft publishes a vast array of videogames for PCs and its Xbox console, and Yahoo! runs a Web-based gaming hub of its own. Don't bother trying to sign me up unless the game company CEOs start shooting one another with rocket launchers.

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