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Rumor: Sega pulls funding on Aliens: Colonial Marines, Aliens RPG
Sega has allegedly pulled funding from both Obsidian's Aliens RPG and Gearbox's Aliens: Colonial Marines, sources have revealed to Joystiq. Supposedly, 20 people were laid off from Obsidian yesterday and more could soon lose their jobs. The layoffs also affected the team working on Alpha Protocol, another Obsidian-developed, Sega-published title. Without the Aliens RPG, Obsidian is apparently on the ropes, our sources say. As for Gearbox, Sega allegedly stopped paying the developer for its work on Colonial Marines for "a while" -- production has since ceased. At this point, it's unclear whether Colonial Marines has been "halted" or "canceled," which Gearbox president Randy Pitchford – in response to a previous rumor – called an "inaccurate characterization." This rumor comes less than 24 hours after Sega announced Aliens vs. Predator and refused to answer questions about the previously announced Aliens titles. Sega turning off the money tap wouldn't exactly be shocking, given the company plans to lay off 560 people and already lost $119 million in the first three quarters of its fiscal year. Requests for clarification from Sega and Gearbox on the status of the titles have not yet been returned as of press time. An Obsidian representative responded with "no comment" to our inquiry. If you're one of those let go, or have any further information, please feel free to contact us.
It's not game over, man! Aliens: Colonial Marines and Alpha Protocol to see Q1 09 release
Aliens: Colonial Marines will see life on the current crop of HD-consoles and PCs within the first quarter of 2009, SEGA confirmed today. Late last year rumblings were the upcoming shooter's future was in jeopardy when rumors surfaced that SEGA had cut funding on the project after Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway saw lower than expected sales results, which prompted Gearbox President Randy Pitchford to release a statement denying the game had been canned.In a comment to Videogamer, SEGA confirmed the game based on the popular film franchise will release sometime between April and June; the first three months of the Japanese company's fiscal year. SEGA also confirmed the upcoming Obsidian Entertainment developed action-RPG Alpha Protocol will release within the same quarter.
Aliens: Colonial Marines, Alpha Protocol slated for Q1 '09 release
No, we don't believe it either, but at least Sega has confirmed that the nebulous development of Gearbox's Aliens: Colonial Marines is still ongoing. According to a release list issued to UK site VideoGamer.com, Sega currently has the xenophobic first-person shooter pinned to the first quarter of its 2009 release calendar -- though the article questions whether said calendar is Gregorian or fiscal.Joining Colonial Marines in the Q1 '09 release window is Obsidian's Bauer-esque spy RPG, Alpha Protocol. We've contacted Sega of America to clarify these dates and confirm the other titles on the list, including House of the Dead: Overkill (February), Sonic and the Black Knight (March) and Bayonetta (a vague "2009").
Status of 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' muddled in Gearbox layoffs
The development status of Aliens: Colonial Marines is currently about as convoluted as Weyland-Yutani's interest in the xenomorph. Following reports that the title had been canceled, developer Gearbox's president, Randy Pitchford, has stated the game has not been "canned."Originally, Shacknews reported that Gearbox let go of about 15-25 employees, with the site's sources claiming Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway's poor retail performance and the "stoppage of work" on Aliens were the reason for the layoffs. Pitchford reiterated to the site that it was an "inaccurate characterization" that production on the game had been "halted." Questions about Aliens: Colonial Marines' quality and condition have hung over the title since E3.
Aliens: Colonial Marines glimpsed in Jace Hall Show
Those of you who took the E3 absence of Aliens: Colonial Marines to mean that Gearbox had naught to show for its FPS efforts have been proven utterly wrong. As indistinctly evidenced by some new (and brief) off-screen footage, the so-not-coming-out-in-2008 shocker is shaping up to be everything you could have hoped for: It is a game. It is presented in the first-person perspective. You are equipped with a device that rapidly transports projectiles into snarling faces, often attached to slimy extraterrestrials. The footage was captured by the folks behind The Jace Hall Show, who came over, man, came over to have a look at the game in the final moments of their season finale. You can view the episode after the break or, alternatively, see the edited clip at Shacknews.
Aliens: Colonial Marines E3 absence explained
Sega's E3 presence was among the weakest at last week's event, trumped only by the pitiful showing at Camp Belmont, a notion not helped by the absence of Gearbox-developed Aliens: Colonial Marines from either the show floor or Sega's own booth. Videogamer.com cornered Gearbox president Randy Pitchford about the missing shooter, a no-show he blamed squarely on Sega's marketing strategy, adding that "the game is in great shape. People are going to freak out when they see it."By people, he obviously didn't mean Sega's own marketing VP Sean Ratcliffe, who told us that while the publisher was considering showing the game at E3, Sega didn't feel that it was quite ready for prime time. "I think it needs a little more time before we want to put it in front of the press," the exec told us. He added that more news regarding the status of Aliens: Colonial Marines will be announced sometime after E3, though we continue to hope that Sega will release game as planned in late 2008 and not nuke the site from orbit.[Thanks Cellien]
New Aliens: Colonial Marines Concept Art
Not a whole hell of a lot is known about the tactical squad based shooter, being brought to us courtesy of Gearbox and Sega. The licensed FPS, Aliens: Colonial Marines, was revealed in older issue of Game Informer, and then rather dropped off the radar until reappearing in UK's OXM. Colonial Marines is scheduled to hit this fall and sport four-player drop-in-drop-out online coop, and the new two pieces of concept art depict the heads of one of the aliens and one of the marines. They'll probably be used as some sort of promotional material for the game, so we're likely to see these images again.%Gallery-22130%
Gearbox Software defends in-game ad deal
Gearbox Software founder, Randy Pitchford, has commented on the developer's blog regarding its recent in-game advertisement agreement with Double Fusion, quelling concerns that Brothers in Arms would become Brothers in Ads. "We respect any contempt for exploitive advertising that negatively effects the integrity or the quality of the game because we, as hardcore gamers, share that same contempt," writes Pitchford. He further emphasizes, "We hate exploitive advertising that doesn't offer value to the gamer."In the category of advertising Gearbox doesn't hate, lies the kind that improves authenticity. Gearbox provides the example of a Philips factory in Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, a historical site which would detract from authenticity sans the appropriate (and accurate to 1944) branding. Pitchford also lists increased budgets and out-of-game promotion as potential benefits that "we hope come from Double Fusion helping to connect Gearbox with advertisers." "If you see in-game ads for some stupid product that has nothing to do with the context in which it occurs and actually detracts from the experience, then you can feel justified in bashing the developer, publisher, or advertiser that made that decision," concludes Pitchford. Fair enough -- but we'd better not be stopping at a Burger King in our trek across Borderlands, mister.
Aliens: Colonial Marines will release in late 08
Wow, how did this one slip us by? Gearbox are currently developing Aliens: Colonial Marines, a squad-based first-person shooter set in the Alien universe. With a story penned by sci-fi writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle (Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), four-player co-op play and nary a mention of the word "Predator", this game is heading straight for our "To Watch" list. The press release states that the game will take "retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films while leveraging next-generation technology to create an entirely new interactive Aliens experience" and will be out at the end of this year. Between now and then further multiplayer modes for the game will be announced. We predict some sort of Humans vs Aliens deathmatch in cramped, claustrophobic space ships - and, if not, why not!
Aliens: Colonial Marines in late 2008, 4-player co-op
Sega has bumped up the Aliens: Colonial Marines street date to "late 2008," just a week after Game Informer revealed the game name and cited a vague 2009 release. The publisher also provided details of the title's plot, an original, penned by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. As part of a United States Colonial Marine squad you and up to three additional friends will face a Nazi an Alien assault (yes, like we said, "original"). In co-op mode, players will have distinct roles to play in the completion of each mission -- we call flamethrower duty! The game also will include additional multiplayer modes not yet announced.With Gearbox at the helm, expect an authentic recreation of the films' fictional world from pulse rifles to the now abandoned Sulaco spacecraft. Aliens: Colonial Marines is in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.[Via press release]
Aliens: Colonial Marines, FPS, coming in 2009
So it seems that the long-announced, but not-much-discussed Aliens game, brought to us by Gearbox and Sega, has finally been revealed. As strange as it is to see a revival of the Aliens IP, the brand still does command plenty of loyalty and the idea of bringing it to the most played genre around isn't that out there. The game is unveiled in this month's issue of Game Informer and is formally titled Aliens: Colonial Marines. The title is an obscure reference to a scene from the second movie in which Ripley meets United States Colonial Marines. Evidently the colonies will be the focus of the game, as no details have been released regarding the game's story or canonical connection to the films. We do however know that the game will be squad based is due out after the end of the year.[Via Joystiq]
'Aliens: Colonial Marines' is title of Gearbox, Sega FPS
Not much more than a name to go with previous confirmation that Brothers in Arms creator Gearbox is developing an Alien FPS for Sega, as Game Informer announces "Aliens: Colonial Marines" as the cover story in it's new issue. The brief teaser copy confirms that the game will be squad-based, ostensibly following some of the development cues from Gearbox's previous projects. The title alludes to the second film, Aliens, and perhaps specifically to the 'United States Colonial Marines' who accompany Ripley when she returns to LV-426. It's unclear what, if any connection the game will have to that film or others within the series.Sega's Alien license currently covers Colonial Marines and an Obsidian RPG. Aliens: Colonial Marines is slated for a 2009 release on PC and consoles.
Gearbox to develop Sega's Alien FPS
Sega has revealed that Brothers in Arms creator Gearbox will develop its Alien FPS. The announcement comes padded with a lil' promise, as Sega has declared the shooter "will retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films" -- we'll interpret this line to be a reference to Alien and Aliens, not the additional sequels (and certainly not AVP).With the game not scheduled for release until 2009, neither Sega or Gearbox is saying much else. Should we assume, given Gearbox's history, that this Alien FPS will be squad-based, with a touch of strategy?See also:Alien games to burst out of Sega's chestObsidian to helm Aliens RPG for Sega
