The U.S. economy is in pretty shabby condition. With food and fuel prices rising, many are finding it increasingly more difficult to make ends meet. Things don’t look to get any easier for the large number of individuals that recently found themselves on the wrong end of Activision Blizzard’s imposing unemployment ax. After thorough examination of upcoming releases, the company has decided to drop numerous IPs, which included “Ghostbusters: The Video Game,” “Brutal Legend,” “50 Cent: Blood on the Sand” and “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.”
However, is Activision Blizzard really an evil, monolithic corporation? After all, the company is merely attempting to ensure that it is profitable for the foreseeable future. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick recently sat down with Sarcastic Gamer for an in-depth interview. What I found out was more terrifying than I could have ever imagined. (more…)
Yet another blog from the SGC, this time discussing how EA may be leaving their old ways behind and entering a new era of *gasp* good games. These impressions come from Sarow’s own SGC blog. You can have one too, just by swinging by the forums. As always, we’ll be keeping a vigilant eye on the blogs for the cream of the crop, which will end up here. This article required no edits so well done Sarow! And now, let’s check out Sarow’s editorial about EA…
While EA has churned out endless copies of brilliant awful games over the past few years, they seem to be changing their ways. For the first time in many years I have actually found myself interested in several EA games at once. EA has always managed to produce a couple of good games every year (or rather buy the studios making these good games), but they finally they seem to be realising that it is quality that matter, not quantity. To prove this, look at the Medal of Honour series. EA has published 14 Medal of Honour games in the last 8 years. However since the very first one was published, the series has declined in Metacritic score to a low of 56 from the 91 they received for the original game. This is just one example of how the EA has ridden a cash cow series into the ground, while sucking out as much money as humanly possible. (more…)
Note: This is yet another, in a long line of Sarcastic Gamer Survival Guides that we’ve done to help our fellow gamers kick butt and take names in games such as Call of Duty 4, GTA IV, Burnout Paradise and more.
Civilization is and was an all time classic game. Maybe in the top five games of all time. Well, now you’ve got a fancy shmancy version for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The thing about all Civ games is that it’s kind of complicated. Civ Rev is dumbed down a bit for console consumption, but the core game is there. That means that a few tips and tricks, carried over from previous Civ games, should be enough, if you find yourself getting your butt kicked in on the Warlord level, or when playing friends online.
I’m gonna show you the quick and dirty secrets to win, including a few strategies and your tech tree path to success, after the jump!
If you’ve been reading the papers, watching the news, listening to the radio or, if in New York, been wandering past the huge LED tickers that dominate Times Square, you’ll probably be aware that some of the world’s largest economies are in trouble at the moment. With oil and fuel prices rising and people having less and less money to spend, several big companies are reporting huge losses and announcing cutbacks in the epic economic slowdown known as the ‘credit crunch’.
The thing is…could this be affecting games companies?
Fresh from Quakecon 2008 come these brand new screens of the latest Wolfenstein game. Expect Nazis, alternative timeline stories and superhuman sci-fi goodness. Curiously some screenshots depict the settings changing into rather Armageddon-esque forms, spilling a smidgen of plotline for you to speculate about.
Hit the jump for each new screenshot, rendered in pristine, delicious, mouth-watering hi-def. Or as mouthwatering as the prospect of global conflict can be. I’m drooling anyway. I know, I’m terrible.
For many years, Electronic Arts was labeled as an “evil” corporation by gamers. The company drew much ire from gamers, as EA seemed content with publishing predominantly sub-par sequels of existing intellectual properties, while gobbling up cutting edge game studios, only to absorb them into EA’s Borg Collective. Current CEO, John Riccitiello, is attempting to erase that label. Based on the publisher’s E3 press conference, I would say the company is moving in the right direction.
However, if EA does turn over a new leaf, does that mean that the videogame industry will be all sunshine and rainbows? No. There is no rest for the wicked.
Apparently, there is another third-party publisher that is willing to take the torch that EA is attempting to discard. (more…)
Round two of the epic battle between “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” is creeping inevitably closer. I expected that the months leading up to the titles’ fall releases would devolve into a slap fight for song and artist exclusivity.
Fortunately for gamers, that scenario has not happened. However, some music game aficionados might still find it difficult to pick a side. Even though both titles will provide a full-band experience, there are enough differences to distinguish each title. For instance, “Guitar Hero: World Tour” will allow gamers to create their own music (sans vocals). Not to be outdone, Harmonix will make over 500 songs available for “Rock Band 2″ owners by the end of 2008.
It can be a difficult choice. However, it is one that Xbox 360 owners (and hopefully PS3, PS2 and Wii owners) might not have to make ever again. (more…)
Let’s face it, guys: product placement is everywhere in video games these days. We’ve seen Snake using an iPod to chill out in Metal Gear Solid 4 and we might as well admit that racing games such as Forza and Gran Turismo are just big fat adverts for each of the car manufacturers who appear in each game.
The thing is, there’s clever product placement and there’s downright shameless product placement; but which is the worst? My top 5 worst, after the jump.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was a great game. I played the hell out of it and still pick up my plastic ax every now and then (thanks to some free DLC).
When I read the first previews for the next iteration, Guitar Hero: World Tour, I couldn’t imagine what Harmonix (developers of Rock Band) could do to outshine Activision. Along with a new set list, Guitar Hero: World Tour will feature user-generated content (minus the vocals), new peripherals (doing its best Rock Band impersonation), cameos from some of the biggest names in rock, customizable instruments and characters, and online play for an entire band. Before you ask, the guitars from Guitar Hero III will be compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour.
I was ready to devote another $60 to the Guitar Hero franchise.
The new game Spiderman game, Web of Shadows, is drawing closer to release date and Activision wants this game to be in touch with what the fans want. They have been letting fans vote on characters and other aspects of the game, with more voting to come.
In an election year, isn’t it wonderful to see democracy in action. Unless you’re not fan of democracy, then I guess it’s not, comrade.
Check out Activision’s latest contest, after the jump. (more…)
While we’re currently being told that Call of Duty: World at War will release sometime between about September and December of this year, I will be pleasantly surprised if we see it before next February. The guys at Activision and Treyarch aren’t stupid and they know how much is riding on this for both of them.
What I’m getting at is that while lots of newer titles ARE being pushed out the door with gaping holes in them (see Alone in the Dark, Frontlines: Fuel of War) these guys can’t afford to have that happen here. If the game isn’t perfect on release day, people are going to have cardio infarctions about how its the worst thing to ever happen in the history of video games.
I’m calling it, and want desperately to be wrong, but I think this game will be pushed back if anything goes wrong between now and go time.
It would be better to have Santa’s sleigh a little lighter than crash the franchise and a developer’s reputation into the ground at full speed.
I don’t often regret things. Whenever I make a purchase, it is usually based on solid reasoning and a thorough understanding of the product. This is especially true of videogames. I have become quite judicious about my software purchases. For instance, I once bought “ClayFighter 63 1/3″ for the Nintendo 64. Yea, I know. I promise it won’t happen again.
The point is, I usually make sound decisions. At least I think so…
Well, right about now, I am starting to think I backed the wrong pony (sorry for the cliché, but I’m from Kentucky).
Find out the details of my conundrum after the jump. (more…)
The official UK PlayStation magazine features what appear to be the world’s first screenshots of Bond’s first video game outing since the mediocre From Russia With Love (based on the Sean Connery film and starring pop star Natasha Bedingfield for reasons one can only try to comprehend). The new game, based on the upcoming movie Quantum of Solace, will feature Daniel Craig in the starring role and will take on the gadget-free, adrenaline-surged style of the newer films.
More on this (relatively) exclusive news after the jump!
