Gamernode: Latest Industry News

Top Spin 3. The details and the goodies

I was able to join in on a conference call with Anthony DeLuca, producer for Top Spin 3 this week along with other gaming journalists. We picked Anthony's brain about the new upcoming tennis title and got a feel for what this new version is all about.

DeLuca said this latest edition was his favorite. "We're most proud of Top Spin 3. We wanted to bring it up a notch instead of the game being a back and forth version of "Pong"...[in other words] more realistic control in the game. It has something for everybody...hardcore and beginner."

I asked about unlockables and special content and it looks like there will be a ton of them to keep virtual tennis fans out there occupied. Some of the things you can expect to see are special equipment, clothing, animations, brands, racquets, shoes and "lots o...

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Surfer Girl -- Exit stage right

Within the game industry there is a person whose presence has been usually tolerated or looked up to, depending on your viewpoint. Longtime blogger and rumor rat, SurferGirl, has given her share of tips, gossip and viewpoints about the game industry for a while but has evidently called it quits according to her last blog.

The site Surfer Girl Reviewed Star Wars, was an insider source of information and commentary on the world of video gaming. Her views and style--both appreciated and criticized by the gaming community, was none-the-less, a favorite of game journalists.

In her last post she exited the world of video game blogging in what some would say, by sounding just a bit bitter about the state of games, as she referred to a video she posted to explain her feelings.

What I'm saying above ...

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Another videogame movie to ignore: Street Fighter

I don't trust videogame movies and there are more than a few examples not to. So when news breaks about the new Street Fighter movie, titled Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, I usually ignore it. But it is my duty to report my findings on the internet, so I will indulge you this time readers... this time.

Justin Marks the writer of such classic films as Unbroken and Fast Forward recently discussed why Chun-Li (played by Kristen Kreuk) was the focus and made a point to say "I've never seen a successful action movie (in my mind) that blatantly sexualised [sic] its female lead and succeeded for its audience; Catwoman, Elektra, the list goes on and on."

"Then I think back to The Terminator, or possibly my all-time favourite movie, Aliens, and I think of how Ripley is depicted in that film...

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Activision's Q4 financial results rivals EA

With Activision's fiscal fourth quarter financial results released, the video game publisher now rivals Electronic Arts as the world's largest video game publisher. For the quarter that ended on March 31st, Activision reported a net income of $44.2 million, which is certainly a jump from a loss of $14.4 million during the same period last year.

Net revenue for the company jumped 93% to $602.5 million, which exceeded the company's own guidance of $350 million. The increased revenue and profit are attributed to excellent sales of Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4.

In a few weeks, Activision will merge with Vivendi SA to form a new publisher called Activision Blizzard. The deal is worth $18.9 billion; once the deal is completed, the publisher will certainly rival Electronic Arts for dominance ...

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Today's article is brought to you by the number 10...

It has long been known that I don't agree with the numbered review system. I stand by the Penny Arcade method of asking (or reading the input of) people who have similar tastes as you if you should play a specific game. I frequently get asked how was "insert game title". And I'll either say, "it was great you should play it," or "it wasn't so good," and then recommend something similar.

Stephen Totilo is leading a fantastic discussion on the "10" review score. He notes that 4 of the 12 highest rated games ever (according to Gamerankings.com) have been released in the past 10 months. Doesn't that seem a little strange? I personally agree with Stephen Totilo and don't think we've reached some golden era of games but that reviewers are more easily impressed.

"Our vocabularies and scoring ...

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Half as many kids purchasing M-rated games in 2008...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just published the results of a study that shows a 22% decrease in underage purchases of M-rated videogames in 2008. With the recent release of everyone's favorite whipping boy, Grand Theft Auto 4, videogames have been under particularly heavy fire from the mainstream media as of late, so this report comes as great news for the industry.

Only 20% of the FTC's secret shoppers were successful in purchasing M-rated games this year, compared to 42% in 2006, and 69% in 2003. Of all of the retailers surveyed, Game Stop/EB Games performed best, turning away a praiseworthy 94% of shoppers. Walmart stopped 82% from making purchases, followed by Best Buy with an 80% rejection rate.                                                   ...

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Take-Two sues CTA for GTA ad pulls

Some of you may remember the issue involving GTAIV advertisements in Chicago buses, and how CTA ultimately pulled them due to a Fox report. Well, Take-Two is now taking some action against the unwarranted hatred of the GTA franchise. They are now filing a lawsuit against CTA. 

The issue initially came up a few weeks ago, when Fox broadcasted one of its usual one-sided, anti-game stories about how the CTA was allowing advertisements for the "unapologetically violent" GTAIV video game. The story stirred up so much controversy that, in the end, the CTA pulled the ads to gain back the support they lost when viewers were swayed in favor of Fox.

Now Take-Two is angry. Angry enough, in fact, to file a lawsuit. They claim that the CTA broke an ad agreement amounting to $300,000, violated free s...

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GTA IV is glitch free according to Take-Two chairm...

When asked if GTA IV had any bugs or not, the chairman of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick replied "No, none whatsoever. I'd say the only issue is that someone came up to me yesterday in a restaurant and said ‘my thumbs are hurting from the weekend.'"

Okay, hold the phone here. Is this guy nuts or is this some kind of joke? Has he somehow not heard of all the crashes, freezes, graphical bugs, and other glitches? Maybe he was speaking for himself but if that's the case, then he should really work on his wording. The jokes just write themselves, folks.

But of course, Zelnick could have just been playing it cute by saying something so outrageous. If that was his intent, he's got a pretty good sense of humor in trying to shake things up a bit. But if he was serious, I'd hate to think what he woul...

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Sony says it has a better lineup of games for 2008...

Sony is feeling pretty confident about the future of its PS3 game lineup for 2008. So much so that SCEE chief, David Reeves, said that he thought Sony's lineup was better than Microsoft's. No surprise here. 

But Reeves really may have some facts to back up his sanguine outlook. With the arrival of expected blockbuster hits coming down the pike such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet, it looks like a pretty solid lineup indeed.

Reeves was asked if he thought the Xbox 360 was in trouble but was diplomatic in saying that Microsoft has really helped the game industry.

"No I don't think it's a sinking ship. I think they have contributed amazingly to the growth of the industry. And I think we have done exactly the same. We don't criticize the competition because we are all in t...

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GameSpot Bumps GTA IV Score?

GameSpot is still under scrutiny thanks to the ordeal earlier this year regarding Kane and Lynch. It seems like any small hiccup and the gaming community is crying foul against the site. The latest is the slight increase in the GTA IV score from 9.5 to a perfect 10.

First off, this is not a huge change. It is not as if GameSpot originally gave GTA IV an 8.0 and now magically it is a 10. The difference between a 9.5 game and 10 is so small that this shouldn't raise a single eyebrow in the gaming community.

Secondly, why does everyone assume this is a bump in the score? Why can't this be explained as a simple database error? These things do happen, and it may have been a glitch in the system that caused the score of GTA IV to be shown incorrectly. One can only imagine the intricate setup GameS...

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Doom 4 announced!

Today, id Software announced they are working on the fourth entry in their highly successful Doom franchise as well as expanding its team of developers to work on the sequel to Doom 3.

"Doom is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth," said id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead.

"It's critical for id Software to have the best creative minds in-house to develop games that meet the standards synonymous with our titles."

No further details were revealed but the company will most likely utilize its new id Tech Engine 5 to produce the game. id Software's lead artist Kevin Cloud had the following to say:

"You don't even have to worry about how it's going to look on PS3 or 360. Right ...

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E3 loses Vivendi/Activision

Poor E3. It's just never been the same since the public was left to stand outside in the cold. The Electronics Entertainment Expo takes place this July, however this year, as already reported, it will be without the world's largest gaming publisher Vivendi/Activision.

Vivendi is part of a growing number of publishers saying sayonara to what was once the biggest gaming spectacle this side of the Pacific. With more and more companies having their own self contained events during the months of April and May, a grandiose event in the middle of July just seems redundant.

Capcom is the most recent company to have completed their press event, and Ubisoft's is coming up later this month. Sony has their own also, and Microsoft has X08.

I mean think about it, wouldn't you rather show off your stuf...

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Play the game of chess with Raving Rabbids. Yes!

I've been a fan of the game chess for quite a while although I don't know really why--I'm not that good at it. But I've got everything from chess video games to pocket electronic chess to prove that it has some sort of fascination and allurement for me.

The next game that definitely will be on my list of games to buy is Chessmaster Live on Xbox Live Arcade or the Grandmaster Edition on the PC. Why? You won't have the typical knights and pawns to do battle with in this new series. Instead you'll be going head-to-head with those silly and crazy Raving Rabbids from the Rayman game.

Those nutty plunger wielding characters will star on this iteration of the Chessmaster series and will surely prove to be a fanatical fun fest. How wild will it be? Well, if you look closely at the rook, he seems to ...

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Valve not bringing Left 4 Dead to PS3...

...but that doesn't mean that someone else won't, according to Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi.

Lombardi recently spoke about the upcoming zombie-splattering first-person shooter, and when questioned about the possibility of a PlayStation 3 release, he had this to say:

"We're not PS3 developers - we're doing PC and 360 like with Orange Box. EA came to us and said 'Wow, Orange box was an incredible project, can we do a PS3 version?' Left 4 Dead doesn't have that guaranteed appeal yet - it's a new IP. If you mention a new Half-Life, people want to make as many versions of it as possible. If Left 4 Dead is big, then we may see a PS3 version later, or if and when we do a sequel, people may be more interested in that.

We're only 150 people, so there's only so many things we can do. But it'...

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Sony launching a new online gaming publication?

Trademark filings have become a great source of advanced industry information as of late - and videogame journalists like myself love to make use of them.

Recently, industry giant Sony filed a new trademark for a product or service called QORE, described as "computer services, namely, providing interactive online magazine and entertainment services in the field of video games."

With a name like QORE, this project will most likely be related to the PlayStation Network, which is indeed at the core of Sony's videogame marketing plan. This makes more sense than a typical videogame website; a new source of information for PlayStation 3 owners about upcoming Sony products and services would be much more effective when delivered directly via PSN.

Then again, trademarks are filed and go unused all...

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Jack Thompson sends a letter to Zelnick's mother

All of you guys that have been appalled by Take-Two's unruly behavior in creating the killer creating game GTA, your prayers have been answered.

That's right, Jack Thompson, the only person who seems to actually care about our youth and still know enough about video games to be useful, has set matters straight by sending a letter to Adolph Hitler's mother to tell her of her son's company. Did I say Adolph Hitler? I meant Strauss Zelnick (Chairman of Take Two). I sometimes get the two confused.

With Mother's Day around the corner, our old friend Jack Thompson took it upon himself to inform Zelnick's mother of his ghastly actions. Well, technically he sent it to Zelnick's attorney because he's not allowed to send correspondence to Zelnick or his mother directly, but that's beside the po...

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Activision and Vivendi call it quits for the ESA

If you visit the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) official website, you'll find a virtual who's who of game publishers listed there. But among them are two that are conspicuously missing--Activision and Vivendi.

The reason? Both game companies have cancelled their memberships and hence, will not be attending the ESA sponsored E3 convention this year.

What does the ESA do? According to its website:

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the U.S. association exclusively dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish video and computer games for video game consoles, personal computers, and the Internet.

The ESA offers a range of services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, business and con...

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Infogrames and Atari merge

After all the attention of Electronic Arts trying to move in to take over Take-Two for the nice tidy amount of $2 billion, the news of Infogrames merging with Atari for the paltry sum of $11 million seems like chump change.

As for the Infogrames/Atari merger, the tying of the knot will occur during the third quarter of this year.

David Garner, CEO of Infogrames said:

"Bringing Atari US and Infogrames businesses together will enable us to create a simplified global structure for our business as we seek to re-build a well-managed, cohesive and financially disciplined company. This is a key strategic event for Infogrames that will benefit all of our shareholders. I believe that this transaction will generate significant benefits for the Group."

Both Infogrames and Atari have had a rough time in...

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It's alive! Duke Nukem Forever demo exists

There are certain things in the world that seem to defy explanation as to their real existence. The Loch Ness monster, UFOs, the Yeti, and Bigfoot come to mind. Sure, we've seen photos and videos of them, but the question still exists as to whether they are factual or not.

Among this glorious list of speculative reality lies another...the sporadic sightings of none other than Duke Nukem Forever-the long promised game sequel that gamers have been waiting for over a decade.

Now, as if the Roswell incident has visited us again, there is direct evidence that DNF is not only real; there are witnesses who have seen actual gameplay demos. After this revelation, it seems that many of us found it easier to believe in the existence of Nessy rather than the existence of DNF.

Shacknews was privy to an ac...

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Rockstar feels "terrible" about GTA IV issues

The problems with GTA IV crashing and freezing on PS3s and Xbox 360s are apparently more than just a fable. Internet gaming sites are reporting the instability of the game and Rockstar has heard the cries of the citizens on the streets of Liberty City and elsewhere.

What did Rockstar say? A customer support rep said, "I feel terrible about this." Or for you Charles Barkley fans, Rockstar feels "turrible."

Not exactly a great consolation to those who have hit the wall while playing GTA IV.

The issues occur when certain PS3s and Xbox 360s freeze during the opening scenes of the game or while exiting multiplayer mode. The player then finds that the game prevents any further advancement in gameplay or locks out all game modes altogether. The condition, according to reports, affects some consoles...

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