The Select and Start News Report: 04.21.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 04.21.2008
DC and Mortal Kombat to cross over, GTA4 predicted to be Halo 3's first week record, The EA/Take-Two Buyout saga continues, a bunch of random videos, and the usual.
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report. A HUGE thanks to Rod Oracheski for making the logo for me. Nice to see some people at 411Mania try to get along with other staff writers, unlike the guy who wants to start blood feuds to feed his fragile ego. Yeah, I so went there.
Big News
IT'S NO MARVEL VS CAPCOM, BUT IT'LL HAVE TO DO [credit: Kotaku, Gamasutra, GameSpot]
There have been many weird crossover characters over the years in sport and fighting games. Just a few months ago we learned that Yoda and Darth Vader will be part of Soul Calibur 4. Last week at their Gamer's Day, Midway announced the next Mortal Kombat game will be a crossover fighting game with the heroes (and perhaps even villains) of the DC Universe. Four characters confirmed for the game are Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Batman and Superman. Here's the official trailer with Sub-Zero and Batman going at it:
By heading over to the official website Worlds Collide, you can click on Sub-Zero's eye and a pop-up appears with 16 question marks, which either means they'll be 16 fighters total or perhaps 16 MK fighters confirmed. Word going around however is that this game will have no blood or fatalities that have been a staple of the Mortal Kombat franchise.
I'm not really into the Mortal Kombat games or the DC Universe, so I don't really find anything wrong with this unless it's true that there's no blood or fatalities. Maybe it's because of the addition of DC characters they'll probably be trying to target a younger audience, or maybe they're getting sick of getting the finger pointed at them when some drunk SoB kills his kid and the media thinks Mortal Kombat taught him how to. Some may think this is way too weird or stupid of a concept, but really, what makes it so different then Marvel vs Capcom? Hopefully Superman won't be an ultra-cheap character.
In other DC news, the company and Sierra announced a comic book tie-in series to their upcoming game Prototype. The series comes out in August while the game itself comes out in the Fall.
GRAND THEFT AUTO 4'S FIRST WEEK SALES: PLACE YOUR BETS NOW [credit: GameSpot, GameDaily, Gamasutra]
We're a couple weeks away from the release of Grand Theft Auto 4, and the analysts have come out to give their predictions of how well the game will do in it's first week on sale. Sources from Variety that are close to Take-Two say that based on pre-sale orders, the game will sell over $400 million in the first week, which would beat Halo 3's first week record, and might even top Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $404 million it made in it's worldwide debut. Janco Partners' Mike Hickey said that the game would likely sell 5.8 million units in its first week and Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said it would ship about six million in its first week and ultimately generate $450 million in revenue for Take-Two's fiscal year.
My prediction based on random guessing: The game will sell about 5.2 million units and make around $300 million. But either way, the game looks set to make some big money for Take-Two. So of course, we all know about a certain other company trying to do whatever they can to make that money.
[credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
The launch of GTA4 is approaching. Is EA going to buyout Take-Two? Here's the latest on the situation:
-Before it's stockholders meeting, Take-Two announced that there were no stockholder proposals nor any new board members nominated. They also barred any stockholders who held stock after February 19 from their annual meeting in order to not be swayed by those who are trying to capitalize on a short-term investment.
-At the stockholders meeting, Take-Two continued to take their stance against EA trying to buy them out, and that if anybody wants to buyout Take-Two, they'll have to do it after Grand Theft Auto 4 is released. Analysts believe that EA is going to have to raise their offer from $26 per share to $30 per share in order to get Take-Two to accept.
-So with Take-Two rejecting the offer, EA has decided to extend the deadline of their formal offer to 11:59 p.m., EDT on May 16. The $26 per share however has now been REDUCED to $25.74 per share because of Take-Two chairman's Strauss Zelnick's new compensation package. C'mon EA. If Take-Two thinks that $26 per share is going to be too low, what makes you think they'll accept $25.74 per share? And this is being offered up to until AFTER Grand Theft Auto 4 is getting released. Is EA really NOT trying to cash in on GTA4, or is this some kind of cover-up? Either way, if EA is buying Take-Two, I'm pretty sure it's through hostile methods.
-Meanwhile, on the EA side of things, they've recieved a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over whether this buyout is anti-competitive or not. On the Take-Two side of things, they are being sued AGAIN by a shareholder for not giving in to EA. Now, I'm not a stock market expert, but isn't the point of the stock market risking your money into something that may or may not give back? I never realized that if things don't go your way you can sue to make money instead.
Tidbit News
-A patch has been released for Lair which now allows for a left analogue stick control scheme rather then moving around the SIXAXIS controller. Hopefully the patch does not come with a 30-page manual explaining the new controls. [credit: PS3 Fanboy]
-Morality in Media president Robert Peters thinks that because so many companies get away with glamorizing violence in the media (which to him contributed to Hseung Hui Cho's Virginia Tech rampage), he says the Constitution has now become a suicide pact. Sometimes I wonder if America actually has rights anymore. [credit: GamePolitics]
-Singapore has recently announced it's new content ratings system that consists only of two ratings: Mature 18 (M18) and Age Advisory. M18 is for gamers 18 and older and requires an age check for purchasing. Age Advisory is for 16 and older and does not require age checking. Games with these ratings will have stickers of the ratings placed on them. [credit: GamePolitics]
-The Wii Fit has been offcially priced at $90. At that price, I'd rather just buy a couple used copies of DDR. [credit: GameDaily]
-Never played the original Soul Calibur because you didn't buy the Dreamcast? Well no longer do you have to feel ashamed, because Soul Calibur will soon be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade. [credit: GameSpot]
-NCsoft has recently launched their micro-transaction system for in-game items and upgrades using real world money, called NCcoin. $1 equals 100 NCcoins, and the first game to use it is Exteel. More NCsoft games will soon feature the NCcoin service. [credit: GameDaily]
-Rumors/speculation has been going around that the whole EA Take-Two buyout situation would delay the release of GTA4. That can all be put to rest, as GTA4 has gone gold and is already being shipped to retailers. [credit: Evil Avatar, GameSpot]
-The Sims have now reached over 100 million units sold worldwide since the release of the original in 2000. The franchise has generated around $4 billion in sales. [credit: Gamasutra]
-In DLC news, Guitar Hero III is getting three Def Leppard songs (new single Nine Lives, Photograph, and Rock of Ages) while Rock Band is getting a new single from Motley Crue ("Saints of Los Angeles") as well as Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance" album. [credit: Gamasutra, GameSpot, GameDaily]
-Microsoft announced two new games to their Xbox Originals line-up that should be out by the time you read this; Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Vivendi's Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. [credit: GameSpot]
-Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello says that movie studios are started to become more interested in games rather then movies, and that word going around Hollywood is that some are worried Iron Man is not going to do well because of Grand Theft Auto 4. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Looks like EA isn't the only company trying to conduct hostile takeovers. Blockbuster is making a $1 billion hostile takeover bid ($6 to $8 per share) for retailer Circuit City. Analysts believe this is a reckless move by Blockbuster, considering that Blockbuster has been in a slump and Circuit City looks to be going out of business. I thought these two companies were already out of business. [credit: Gamasutra, GameSpot]
-Namco Bandai announced that the Ace Combat series has sold 10 million units worldwide, with Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War selling over one million in North America. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Gaming Calendar
April 22nd - The World Ends With You to be released
April 27th - Mario Kart Wii to be released
April 29th - Grand Theft Auto IV to be released
May 12th - WiiWare Service to be launched
May 19th - Wii Fit to be released
May 2008
-Mass Effect gets ported to the PC
-R-Type Command to be released
-Haze to be released
Spring 2008:
-Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms to be released
-Death Jr.: Root of Evil to be released
June 3rd - Ninja Gaiden II to be released
June 12th - Metal Gear Solid 4 to be released
June 28-29 - Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational convention to be held
June 2008 - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to be released
July 8th - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon to be released
July 22nd:
Final Fantasy IV DS to be released
NEW: Izuna 2 to be released
Is that ninja STILL unemployed? This economic recession is getting worse then I thought.
NEW: Summer 2008 - Air Traffic Chaos to be released
September 7th - Spore to be released
September 2008:
LittleBigPlanet to be released
NEW: TNA iMPACT to be released
As long as the game does not wind up sucking as bad as the TV show (tune in Thursday to find out how TNA will screw up the tag title scene), it'll all be worth it.
October 3-5 - E for All 2008 to be held
October 9-13 - The Tokyo Game Show 2008 to be held
November 2008 - Gears of War 2 to be released
Fall 2008 - Resistance: Fall of Man 2 to be released
The Bible is worse then Grand Theft Auto
For those of you who hate this part of this column, I have news for you: It isn't leaving. I'm going to continue this until the Bible is blamed just as much as video games for violent incidents, because the way I see it, the Bible is just as bad or worse then Grand Theft Auto. Only unlike Grand Theft Auto, the Bible is PRAISED for the content it contains because those who praise it seem to pass over all the gore and sex and talk about the good. We'll be lucky that video games ever get the same kind of treatment from those outside the industry.
Here's an example of what those people are really like. This is from 1 John 4:
4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
What this means is that if you don't believe Jesus is the son of God, congratulations, you're suddenly an anti-christ. Exactly how people such as everybody's favorite lawyer view gamers and all video games associated with them. Lord forbid you decide to like video gamers and be one of the nicest people in the world, but instead you are viewed as a guy just seconds away from starting some kind of school massacre. Meanwhile, not only are you urged to read the Bible but also see movies like Passion of the Christ, a movie in which Jesus Christ is tortured brutally to death and it rakes in over 300 fucking million dollars. It's bullshit like this that this segment will stay until the Bible gets blamed just like GTA and other forms of entertainment media.
Feedback!
From Dent Kelly:
Hello there, im a fan of your Hall of Shame column, even though I don't like your Fox News inclusion, and i do not like your bible is than gta segments of your other column. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions as a critic.
1.Do you get angry that games you or other critics praise dont sell well( ex. Okami,PsychoNauts, Beyond G&E), while games critics hate(Gundam, dynasty warriors, DBZ) sell a ton of units, and how do feel about this?
2.Do you think gamers sometimes buy panned games and not buy acclaimed ones as a sign that they do not care what the critics, and are doing so as a way to stick it to them?
3. Last one i promise, Are you really that mad that 50 cent got a sequel, no im not a fan, but how do you really feel about it? Thank you and goodbye.
P.s. whats your next hall of shame column going to be on?
1. Sometimes. I'm definitely peeved that Zack and Wiki seems to have bombed considering those are the kind of games that the Wii should be defined by, not crappy PS2 ports and an overdose of simplistic casual stuff like Wii Sports and Wii Play. I say sometimes because good games that bomb I think fail for other reasons or aren't as great as critics love to say they are (aka my "Arrested Development" theory).
2. I think they buy panned games because of name value.
3. Yes, I am mad 50 Cent is getting a sequel. I simply do not like the man.
As for the next Hall of Shame, I'm really not sure. I've got a bunch of ideas but I need to think which one I can actually write a decent column about.
As for the Fox News induction, fuck it. Every time I think about what Fox News did, I can't help but get mad about how incredibly horrible that was. Aren't national television news networks supposed to be better then this? If I do a Top Ten Shameful Moments for 2008, that will likely achieve the #1 spot.
Videos of the Week
Since I'm going to be off on spring break, there won't be a news report next week. So here's a bunch of videos to tide you over:
This guy makes musical instruments out of vegetables. Here he plays the Song of Time with a Carrot:
How many of these 21 Amazing Nintendo Facts did you already know:
A day at work with Thwomp:
"You're too slow!" Snake trains to beat Sonic in a race:
"Yuri the one for me" by the Leetstreet Boys, a romance song with anime and video game references galore:
"Nice to see some people at 411Mania try to get along with other staff writers, unlike the guy who wants to start blood feuds to feed his fragile ego."
Pffft... That must be German or something for "I surrender"....
Posted By: Mark Salmela (Registered) on April 21, 2008 at 01:22 AM
HEY!!!He posted my feedback,THAT's Cool!!
Posted By: witchaditcha (Guest) on April 21, 2008 at 12:04 PM
"For those of you who hate this part of this column, I have news for you: It isn't leaving. I'm going to continue this until the Bible is blamed just as much as video games for violent incidents, because the way I see it, the Bible is just as bad or worse then Grand Theft Auto. Only unlike Grand Theft Auto, the Bible is PRAISED for the content it contains because those who praise it seem to pass over all the gore and sex and talk about the good."
The Bible is an important book in history. The violence is to tell teh story and teach, not for gamer nerds to cream themselves over.
POTC was to show Jesus' sacrifice.
Every Bible is different. Mine says something else.
So quit this Bible shit. Do your job and report game news.
Posted By: Barbecued Ribs (Guest) on April 22, 2008 at 07:55 PM
