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Activision shuttering Budcat, downsizing California QA team
Iowa-based Budcat Creations is being closed, Activision confirmed in a statement this afternoon. The company also revealed a "targeted reduction in jobs" at its Quality Assurance outfit in California. Budcat had been owned by Activision since 2008, when the developer was acquired for work on the Guitar Hero franchise. According to the publisher, "approximately 88 positions, or approximately 1 percent of our global workforce" have been affected by today's layoffs -- Budcat is thought to comprise roughly 60 people, putting the California redundancies in the range of 25–35 workers. "We continue to streamline our music development resources to ensure that they are aligned against our slate and strategic goals," Activision explained. "Budcat has been a great partner to Activision and has created a lasting impact on the Guitar Hero franchise." Aside from Guitar Hero, the studio also worked on the Psychonauts PS2 port, as well as Medal of Honor: Vanguard for Wii. Activision also notes it's "working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services." Activision's full statement can be found after the break.
Blast Works developer working on Guitar Hero for new owner Activision
Budcat Creations is perhaps best known for developing the excellent DIY shmup Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy for Majesco. But they've also ported Guitar Hero World Tour, Aerosmith, and III to the PlayStation 2 for Activision, and it's that kind of work that they'll be doing now as a newly-acquired company. Activision announced today that they've purchased Budcat, and that the developer is working on "a new game in the Guitar Hero franchise." Normally, we would suspect that Budcat has been purchased for the explicit purpose of creating PS2 ports, but the PS2 isn't mentioned anywhere in Activision's press release, while the Wii and DS are. In fact, the press release highlights their "expertise" with the Wii and the DS specifically, and Activision CEO Mike Griffith says that the acquisition "strengthen(s) our development capabilities on the Nintendo platforms." I want to read about Guitar Hero all ni-i-ight, and eat Guitar Hero cake!
Activision acquires Budcat for 'new game in the Guitar Hero franchise'
Franchise-loving publisher powerhouse Activision Blizzard announced today that it has acquired Budcat Creations, the studio responsible for all Guitar Hero titles on the PlayStation 2 since GH3. According to the press release, Budcat is "currently in development on a new game in the Guitar Hero franchise." Our guess is a PS2 port of the perpetually teased Guitar Hero Metallica.With the exception of one outlier (Aspyr Media, who ported GH3 to PC and Mac), Activision Blizzard has now locked in what we affectionately dub the "Guitar Hero sweatshop." With Neversoft at the helm, Budcat is working with PS2 and Vicarious Visions will be responsible for Wii and DS versions. At the time of acquisition, Budcat was also reportedly working on the Wii's Our House for publisher Majesco.
Blast Works arrives in Europe tomorrow
According to an entry for Blast Works on the Nintendo of Europe website, the incredibly cheap and really fun shooter from Budcat will arrive on European retail shelves tomorrow, as the listed date of release is October 17th.We're not sure if the game is going to cost as little across the pond as it does here in North America, but we're hoping it does. Either way, you need to pick up this fine game. It's easily worth more than $20.%Gallery-4821%[Via Go Nintendo]
Blast Works officially $20 now
The price has been dropping at retailers for a couple of weeks now (as low as $10, temporarily), and now Majesco has made this great deal official: the publisher sent out a press release announcing that the new MSRP for Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy is $19.99.It's a sad situation that the sales warrant a price drop, but we're of the opinion that pretty much every game should cost $20 or less. We can just tell you with even more conviction before that if you like shmups even a little, or if you just like building stuff, you should purchase this game and be amazed by the Blast Works Depot.%Gallery-4821%
Blast Works: Spend Ten Bucks, Trade, Destroy
Over the weekend, Amazon and Gamestop dropped the price of Majesco's Blast Works to $20, which we thought was going to be the best Wii game deal we'd hear for a while. Then Best Buy stepped in and showed just how little money you can charge for Blast Works. They're selling it online and in-store for $10, but it's currently sold-out online. It should be in stores for a bit longer, since that requires some prospective buyers to go to a place.This is a very sad development for one of the best games of 2008, but it's really good news for people who have ten bucks to spend right now.[Image: "Kunio Kun" by gatsu25]
Jimi Hendrix joins Guitar Hero World Tour
Activision today (officially) scored a major player for Team Guitar Hero (take that Rock Band!), landing Jimi Hendrix, who will make his posthumous "video game debut" in Guitar Hero World Tour. Hendrix will feature as a playable character in the game, and two master tracks from the fire-casting rock star will ship on the game disc: "Purple Haze (Live)" (recorded in 1969 at the San Diego Sports Arena) "The Wind Cries Mary" Additionally, Activision has announced plans to release more, unnamed Hendrix tracks as downloadable content. Seeing as how Rolling Stone has named Hendrix the "Greatest Guitarist Evar," it's about time we're able to honor his ineffable talent with five multi-colored buttons. So what's a guy like Jimi cost, Activision?
Wii Fanboy Review: Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
In 2004, Kenta Cho (under the name ABA Games) released TUMIKI Fighters, one of his many freeware polygonal shooters. Then, last year, Majesco baffled us by announcing plans to adapt it to a retail Wii game. Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy is an odd candidate for AAA-ness: it's a game in a dormant, extremely hardcore genre, based on obscure freeware and developed by a company whose previous experience has mostly involved ports and licensed games, without any real input from the original creator. It's also published by a company whose success with Cooking Mama inspired them to go "casual."These disadvantages would lead anyone to the natural conclusion that Blast Works wouldn't end up a great game -- and they would be correct. It is, in fact, two great games. Or, to take the idea to its ridiculous extreme, infinite great games. We'll stick to two for this discussion, and we'll talk about those two separately.%Gallery-4821%
Pick up a $10 gift card by purchasing Blast Works
We're still shocked that Blast Works finally came out after all those delays (and according to a few emails that we've been getting from you guys, some retailers are also feeling disbelief). If you can manage to track down this content-packed shooter, though, we recommend trying your luck at Circuit City. This week, the folks at the good ol' city of circuits will hand you a nice $10 gift card with a purchase of Blast Works. Yet, don't fret if you're having trouble finding this game at brick and mortar locations, since you can also head to the retailer's online store. For a game that's only $40 to begin with, we have to say -- this deal is mighty tempting. Any takers? Gallery: Blast Works [Via CAG]
Metareview: Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
We can hardly believe it, but Majesco's Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy finally got released. It's in stores right now. And now that it has the distinction of being real and not just some constantly-delayed pipe dream, reviewers can play it and register their opinions.But, really, how good can a Western-developed remake of a freeware PC shooter, with an editor mode attached, be? The answer is apparently "really, really good."1UP: A -- Ray Barnholt found Blast Works both a worthy shooter and an awesome game construction kit: "The core game is cute and clever -- probably not a tide-changer, but it's definitely unique enough to be worth something within its genre (it's an awesome sequel to Tumiki Fighters, at any rate). And if you've got the desire to design games (and share them with the world via Blast Works' included online tools), the editor will teach you some basic fundamentals."IGN: 81% -- Daemon Hatfield heaped more than 81 percent worth of praise on Blast Works: "With BlastWorks, what you get for your $40 is a unique, lengthy shooter, a powerful editor for creating your own levels, plus access to unlimited user-generated content from the game's official website, BlastWorksDepot.com. This is a great package, and although it's not going to appeal to everyone it's great to have something so unique in the Wii's library."Game Informer: 80% -- Even the lowest-scoring review on the list doesn't have many huge complaints: "It's certainly not perfect; the difficulty balancing is rough around the edges, and the co-op multiplayer is ruined by the fact that the camera doesn't pull back, resulting in total chaos as each player's hunk of junk grows in size. However, I'm pretty addicted to Blast Works, and this addiction might never end due to the amazing level editor and online community functions, which gives players the ability to create anything and everything in the game and share them for free online."
WRUP: Having a blast edition
Hey, did you know that Blast Works released this week? Yeah, it's all up on retail shelves right now, waiting for you to pick it up and buy it. Our copy is out there right now, cold and alone, awaiting our loving embrace. But, what about you?Nabbing Blast Works yourself? Picking up something else? What will you be playing this weekend?%Gallery-4821%
Blast Works duo on what didn't make the cut
Blast Works: Build, Trade, & Destroy will finally launch in North America next Tuesday, so now seems like a fitting time for Budcat Creations pair Marcus Brown and Matt Modaff to update their IGN blog and reflect on numerous aspects of the game's lengthy gestation. Fortunately for this post, that's exactly what they did!Amongst other things, Brown and Modaff discuss the team's motivation for including the game's wonderful editor, the content sharing features that we adore so much, and how they'd like to see the game cultivate a modding community to rival those seen in many PC titles. They also reserve special praise for the Wiimote, noting how it "affords players a near mouse-like interface."Most intriguingly of all, there's a list of features that didn't quite make the final cut, mainly due to time constraints. These include the ability to play through the Campaign Mode with four players (there's still a two-player function), a "Marathon Mode" (in which players blast their way through an infinite selection of levels randomly chosen from the campaign and rack up the highest score possible), a "Movement Editor" (for editing, yes, the movement of enemies), and the ability to trade high scores.Despite all of that "missing" stuff, some of which sounds way cool, we'd still probably trade our closest family members in for a copy of Blast Works next week.%Gallery-4821%
Sublime joins Guitar Hero: World Tour, Activision confirms previous acts, details
Activision made Guitar Hero: Rock Band Edition World Tour official today, confirming the details leaked from the current issue of Game Informer. World Tour will feature an all-master track cast, filled with previously named acts like Van Halen, Linkin Park, and The Eagles, plus today's confirmation of Sublime and "many more." The announcement also highlights the "Music Studio" mode (create-a-song), which allows players to "compose, record, edit and share music," and the 8-player "Battle of the Bands" mode.World Tour will also feature so-called "new state of the art wireless instruments" (as sorta seen yesterday), meaning mom won't trip over the coil of wires when she walks in front of the TV and totally destroys the rock mojo; and the still curious, but ambitious sounding promise to add "significantly more localized downloadable music than ever before on all of the next-generation consoles." Yep, that includes the Wii version (developed by Vicarious Visions). Activision confirms that World Tour will be the "first game ever in the Guitar Hero franchise to allow in-game downloadable content on Wii" -- just make sure your SD card is inserted. %Gallery-23477%
Blast! Another Blast Works delay? [update]
[Update: Majesco sent out a press release with a real release date on it! June 10. This release went out mere hours after our email to Majesco. Coincidence? Most likely.]We don't know if this is official (but then no Blast Works date has ever been official), but Gamestop's release date for Blast Works: Build, Trade, and Destroy has moved from May 20 to June 3. If we weren't looking forward to playing the game, this carrot-and-stick routine would be comical, but really we're just angry. This was originally supposed to come out in October.Amazon still says May 27. Best Buy says May 29. Were we regular shoppers and not game bloggers (which requires us to try to keep up with release dates and such), we would definitely have given up on following Blast Works by now. We'd just buy it whenever we happened to see it in a store.
Blast Works Depot open as part of MiiPlaza.net
Blast Works Depot, the official site for uploading and trading user-created Blast Works content, is now online (despite the game's current lack of availability). Rather than creating a fancy new corporate-designed website, Majesco worked with an existing Wii community website, Wii Fanboy Mii Plaza. It's kind of a brilliant idea -- (some) Wii owners are already used to sharing content on Mii Plaza, and Blast Works content now uses the same interface for trading levels, enemies, ships, bullets, and shapes. Oh, except you can upload and download directly from inside the game. Now all we need is for the game to come out, and for other people to buy it and create interesting things!
Blast Works delayed again, apparently
It was no mistake that Blast Works: Build, Trade, & Destroy didn't show up on our weekly releases list. We were sure that it was really going to come out this week, but just like every other time we thought Majesco would release the game, Blast Works has been pushed back. The new release date is still within the month, for now, so at least Majesco doesn't have very long to decide to delay it again.According to Gamestop, Blast Works will be out on the 20th. Amazon says the 27th. We don't know if it'll really be out on either of those dates, but we will still want to buy it whenever.
Blast Works media reveals more of editor, underwhelming boxart
For a game as inventive and unique as Budcat's Blast Works, that sure is some vanilla boxart. Okay, so it's functional in a Ronseal-kinda way, but it's also far from pretty or imaginative (like the game itself). Then again, sporting the kind of cover you'd expect to see on the blandest of Wii budget shovelware didn't harm Game Party's chances, so perhaps this will do the trick, and millions will get to sample Blast Works' original premise and amazing item editor. We can but hope.Speaking of the item editor, it's the center of attention in the fifteen new Blast Works shots in the gallery below. It looks as deep and as engrossing as ever, and there's some encouragingly weird ships being created in those screens.%Gallery-4821%
New Blast Works trailer highlights bonus games, creative design
Of all the neat stuff about Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy, the free bonus games get the least attention. Even if they are freeware, it's awesome that Majesco is putting four extra shooters on the disc, all of which are great. This latest trailer confirms that in addition to the original TUMIKI Fighters, Kenta Cho's rRootage, Gunroar, and Torus Trooper will be unlockable.Other awesome things in this trailer include: a very quick shot of a vertically-scrolling level, which would seem to indicate that it's possible to make vertical shooters in the game, and the black-and-white paper-airplane game. If that were a standalone game, we'd buy it. But it isn't. It's just something somebody put together in Blast Works.[Via NeoGAF]
Blast Works: it's also a shooter
Gametap's latest preview of Majesco's Blast Works focuses on the part of the game that has previously received the least attention: the game. A lot has been said about the editor, but, of course, building objects isn't all that much fun without anything to do with them. Luckily, Blast Works, like no other shooter, puts objects to great use.This is because the powerup system from TUMIKI Fighters is still present. When you shoot an enemy, it falls out of the sky. If it lands on you, it sticks to your ship, firing its own projectiles and acting as armor -- though, according to the preview, "because you're trying to quickly catch them any way and with any part of your ship you can, you wind up having little control over the actual direction that captured guns fire." If you take a hit, a piece of this "armor" falls off. It's quite easy to build up a giant Katamari-like clump of junk around your ship, but you then lose maneuverability and even start to have a hard time figuring out what's going on onscreen.
Blast Works: I'm Lovin' It
Not convinced that Blast Works has been upgraded enough from the free Tumiki Fighters to be worth money? If so, watch this and learn. This is a totally unique game, unless you've been playing another Wii shooter about Mayor McCheese attaching downed lawn darts to his body to increase his firepower.Seriously, it would be hard to conceive of a more rigorous test of a game's item-creation utility than Mayor McCheese. Part man, part hamburger, all politician, Mayor McCheese is a big collection of crazy, disparate shapes. And that looks just like him. What you want is what you get in Blast Works. Whoever made that deserves a break today, because it certainly put a smile on. If kids like us were running the world, you could make Mayor McCheese in every game.Hey, it could happen.
