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(Another) Michael Jackson video game on the way, scheduled for a 'holiday release'
After the King of Pop's passing last week, Joystiq has had an inordinately high volume of Michael Jackson-related stories. Day after day, the video game industry honored his passing -- free "Thriller" downloads on Xbox Live, Battlefield Heroes costumes, and a full on recreation of "Smooth Criminal" using Rag Doll Kung Fu's engine. Today, less than a full week after the singer's death, his production company (MJJ Productions) confirmed to MCVUK that a game starring Jackson and featuring his music has been in production at MJJ for "several months" and is purportedly on schedule to release "this holiday season." Though no definitive "yes" or "no" has been given on the game's release (or any info on the developer, publisher, or the game itself), reports say the game contains recent voice recordings by the singer. The closest we get to actual information on the game's release window is, "I am sure it will still be released ... Michael loved games," by way of an MJJ Productions rep. Here's hoping it's more Moonwalker and less Space Channel 5 -- but then, that's just how we get down.[Via Industry Gamers]
MCV speaks with publishers about hopes for E3 2009
With E3 officially set to start Tuesday (although you wouldn't know it from today), MCV spoke with several industry heavies about what the show must do this year to make the past two years of min-E3s nothing but a distant memory. Sega of America head Simon Jeffrey believes the show needs to have a "controlled level of noise and spectacle" and "can't get back to the days of the E3 circus/carnival" that got in the way of the business. His sentiments are echoed by other industry heads. ESA CEO Mike Gallagher recognizes that the current economic climate is a challenge and beleives the new E3 is the "best value event that European business will see all year." Well the real madness -- which is a massive departure from the eerie quiet from last year -- is set to start Tuesday morning. Feel free to join us.
Peter Moore looks for E3 to 'return to its roots'
Our old buddy Peter Moore doesn't spit fire as often as he used to now that he's at EA Sports. But that doesn't mean he won't bring it on occasion. Why look, just recently, Moore told MCV that he wanted E3 to reclaim its "strut and swagger" explaining "If there was ever a time when our industry needs to look confident and optimistic, it is now."Moore was openly hostile to the expo last year, calling it "soulless." Whether or not this year's iteration will have enough soul for P-Moore will remain to be seen until next week.
NPD survey says: Game spending to stay strong in '09
We'll be straight with you, folks: We don't really like surveys or statistics all that much. So when the NPD talks to 10,000 US citizens about their entertainment consumption and spending, we're inclined to be highly suspicious of any conclusions it may arrive at (after all, that's less than one percent of the US population). That being said, the NPD's latest poll found that, of those 10,000 people, 65 percent are currently willing to spend "the same or more" this year on video games as they did in 2008. Seems as though even in tough economic times, consumers gravitate towards entertainment to take their minds off of duckets (or their lack thereof). "Most consumers say they'll continue to purchase at least the same amount of many entertainment categories in the coming year," NPD analyst Russ Crupnick says, remaining positive on the future viability of entertainment sales in general. We're hoping -- for our sake as well -- his assessment pans out.[Via MCV]
BAFTA awards boost UK game sales, stickering begins
UK game retailers Play.com and GAME are reporting a surge in sales after this month's British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, according to UK site MCV. GAME's COO Terry Scicluna, speaking with MCV, said that the awards show garnered a "real buzz" from consumers while Play.com reported a 14 percent increase in new customers to their site since the March 10th awards ceremony.An aggressive stickering campaign at the UK game retailer surrounded the awards, with employees not only stickering nominees leading up to the ceremony but also BAFTA winners immediately following. "In all GAME stores the nominated games were stickered as official BAFTA nominees, and in the last week the winning games have been re-stickered to highlight their Award success," said Scicluna ... likely pondering what to sticker next.
ASA won't do anything about Change4Life ad
The Advertising Standards Authority, within Her Majesty's domain in the UK, has rejected complaints that the government's Change4Life campaign is misleading or offensive. GI.biz reports that while the ASA did understand the complaints of trade group Tiga and several publishers, it found that the ad didn't "claim that playing computer or console games alone would lead to illness or premature death.""The Council" at the ASA found that most readers would understand that the ad was simply discouraging a sedentary lifestyle -- yes, but then why not put something else in the boy's hands ... like a book? Of course, if a book was put in the boy's hands to illustrate the point, it might upset the "only" time the ASA can act, which is when something "offends against widely accepted moral, social or cultural standards." Simply stated: games aren't a cultural standard, yet.
UK 'Change4Life' ad campaign attacks gamers
MCV reported this morning that an ad campaign titled "Change4Life," currently running in the United Kingdom, is targeting the region's gaming populace with some fairly suggestive remarks. Drawing a correlation between childhood game playing and "an early death," the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK and Cancer Research seem to have made an enemy in MCV, attracting an official complaint filed with the Advertising Standards Authority. MCV's Tim Ingham puts his site's opinion into perspective in a response post to the ad campaign, saying, "Change4Life's advertising campaign makes a mockery of everything the industry has achieved in the last decade. And it's bang out of order." We're inclined to agree with him based on what we've seen so far. For shame!
Sony dismisses IGN's PSP2 rumors, disses IGN
Wow, not only did Sony take the time to deny an IGN rumor about the PSP2, but the company took the opportunity to flat out insult the site. IGN recently cited "several credible sources" in a report on Sony's next handheld, allegedly featuring a touch screen, Bluetooth support, hard drive and GPS. MCV then spoke to Sony about the rumor -- that's when the sparks flew."Clearly, being a quiet time of year, many, what we thought to be credible websites, are making up stories about PSP2, and how it allows you to teleport across the globe, travel through time, and will be powered by the horns of baby rhinoceroses," Sony explained. "Hopefully, you can sense a mild tone of sarcasm, which should hopefully indicate how 'on the money' IGN are. Needless to say, we don't comment on rumour or speculation, but this is nonsense." We don't know who to feel embarrassed for right now, but it's certainly going to be awkward if IGN is right.Source - Rumor: PSP2 coming soon. (IGN)Source - PSP 2 Rumors are "nonsense." (MCV) [Image]
Strange, innit? Top selling games in UK during 2008
ELSPA/Gfk-ChartTrack reveals that Mario Kart Wii was the top-selling game across the UK during 2008 in the "individual SKUs" category. EA's FIFA 09 (it's a soccer game) took the top spot in "all formats." MCV notes that Nintendo hardware holds six of the ten spots on the individual list and several slots on the all format list. Not exactly surprising, given how the region has embraced the Wii.NPD will release its year-end report covering the US this Thursday. For now, check out the most popular titles among the masters of Marmite after the break.
Coming 2017: Bioshock 6?
Cristoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games, has said in an interview with MCV that Bioshock could potentially be spun into a six-game series. Hartmann promises that they won't "cash in" on the game, but that the title's story and universe has potential to be expanded on almost indefinitely. "For Bioshock, because it's so story driven, the question obviously arises: how long can you do it without turning into The Matrix?" Hartmann goes on to say that "if we spin it the right way and get the right twist of innovation, we can make six parts of it, as Star Wars did. It's a fight between good and evil, just like Bioshock." So who knows, maybe Bioshock will continue to evolve and become a long running video game series. It's a strong brand with an excellent story and premise, but we're holding out to see how Bioshock 2 goes later this year before asking for four more.
MCV brings HD video on-demand to Guam
MCV has clearly studied the gameplan on delivering more HDTV "choices" with limited bandwidth: high definition video on-demand. Coming just a few months after HD broadcasts debuted on the island, HD VOD should be live for Guam residents on channel 999, with "music, movies and sports" available, which ones specifically apparently going to be a surprise. HD movie rentals are $5.99 a pop, GTA, would you like to respond?
MCV Broadband heats up the Guam HDTV wars, launches service Thursday
While GTA TeLeGuam's HDTV service is still "coming soon", competitor MCV Broadband just announced it is it is bringing high definition television broadcasts to the island beginning July 10. The launch channels are ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, Discovery Theater HD, A&E HD and Universal HD; a relatively meager number but considerably more than the zero available previously. All MCV Digital TV customers should have access to the new channels, although it's not mentioned if new equipment might be necessary, although we're sure that would be a small inconvenience to be first with HD.
GTAIV PS3 outselling 360 version 3 to 1 at Asda
Duncan Cross, head of games for British Supermarket Asda, has told MCV that Grand Theft Auto IV has "generated great interest on the Asda website, with strong pre-orders, and the PS3 version is selling three times that of 360, which is surprising." It surprises us too, but in a good way. Like when you look in your wallet expecting to find it empty and see a crisp tenner. That sort of surprise.Comet's game representative also told MCV that they "have great expectations and believe [GTA IV] is going to be a massive hardware driver – especially on PS3." We hope they're right. As soon as we hear any interesting sales figures after the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV we'll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, you can rest assured that the game is selling amazingly with regards to pre-orders and most stores are already out of their initial allocations of stock.[Via CVG]
UK retail game sales surpass music industry
The UK's Entertainment Retailers' Association's latest figures show video game sales have surpassed music at retail and are quickly catching up to DVD revenues. The organization states music sales are still important, but value has diminished as game sales go on a rampage. MCV posts that game sales went from £1.3 billion in 2005 to £1.7 billion in sales last year; meanwhile, music sales went from £1.8 billion to £1.4 billion in the same time and continue trending downward.The video and DVD market is stagnant in the UK and maintained £2.1 billion in sales for the last three years. The current data shows that at the game industry's current rate of growth it'll surpass movies at retail in the near future. Just to be clear, these are strictly ERA-tracked retail numbers and do not take into account online sales through systems like iTunes or Xbox Live.[Via GameDaily]
Peter Moore talks smack about Activision-Blizzard
In a recent interview with MCV, Xbox big-wig turned EA big-wig Peter Moore explains how he believes EA Sports' new portfolio is poised on the brink of burying the new Activision-Blizzard juggernaut. He describes how EA Sports is trying to turn their attention to the an international audience, courting new swaths of gamers with casual titles that promise to appeal to customers outside of their usual demographics.Of course, our immediate reaction is to wonder idly what kind of whacky-tobaccy Peter Moore is smoking, Activision-Blizzard's crown jewel is of course World of Warcraft, which netted the company approximately $1.2 billion last year. Yes, you read that number correctly, that's $1,200,000,000. That's not a number that can be countered by dumbing down your sports franchises and hoping for the best. Now, we understand that EA Sports is kind of Peter Moore's baby here, so his chest-thumping is not without rational cause, but I doubt even investors would be fooled by such reckless showmanship. Now, if he wanted to go on to explain why Warhammer Online is going to eat into WoW's market share, we might be more inclined to pay attention, but a pithy boxing game? Puh-lease.
New PS3 "Pick N Mix" bundle for the UK
Do you live in the UK? Are you thinking of picking up a PS3 in the next seven days? If you answered "yes" to both of those questions then we're here to tell you to wait. Next Friday a new "Pick N Mix" bundle will be available from most retailers which will allow you to grab a PS3 along with two games for only £350.We know what you're thinking. "Yeah, but the games probably won't be any good." Not so! Games that can be bundled with your new black monster include Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, Singstar, Motorstorm, Resistance, Folklore and Warhawk. Or, if you're feeling masochistic, you can even go with LAIR and Genji 2. Sound good? We think so too. This bundle will be available from Friday the 18th of January and will continue "until further notice". [Via N4G]
MCV: GTA IV to hit UK April 25
Ever since the Grand Theft Auto IV's much-ballyhooed delay to the somewhat nebulous "Q2 2008," would-be gangsters everywhere have been clamoring to know the specific date the game would hit (and Take Two has been no help on that score). Now MCV purports to have an answer, citing "senior industry sources" to pin the game's British release date at April 25, 2008.If MCV's unnamed "sources close to the game's publisher" are correct, the game would just sneak in before the end of Take Two's promised second fiscal quarter, which runs from February through April. The story gives no hint at a U.S. release date, but recent games in the series have hit our shores a few days before Britain's.Rockstar gave MCV a blanket "no comment" or the rumor, and one source hinted that we might not get much official warning from the publisher. "I'd expect some more concrete news from them two or three weeks before release," a retail source told MCV. Yikes! That doesn't leave much time to rob enough hookers for the needed cash to buy the game.
Rumor: A new PS2 in '08 for $99
MCV is reporting that a new PlayStation 2 model will hit the US in 2008 for $99. This new model will allegedly sport a more "compact" design and have a "built-in power supply." Although we've known MCV to get overly excited in reporting things, they're reporting this as fact. Sony "refused to comment."According to MCV if the product is introduced in the UK it would be £75 or lower. The PS2 celebrated its seventh birthday last week and Sony has said they expect the console to last ten years.
MCV says Sony readying announcements for Leipzig
We're still patting down the dirt on E3 and here comes the European trade publications telling us to pay attention to the expanded Leipzig conference. MCV, in a move of pure speculation, believes Sony Europe is ready to announce at the conference a price-cut, video-on-demand and Freeview TV features. MCV bases their predictions on -- wait for it -- statements made by David Reeves that there would be "fireworks" in Leipzig. In case you're wondering, Sony Europe has no comment on these "rumours" and speculation.The Leipzig conference should be interesting this year, considering there really wasn't too much breaking news at E3. Much of the information we got was just digging deeper into stuff we already knew. Also, with the death of X07, Microsoft may save a couple things for the European event. This year is very different from July through the holiday season having a clusterfrack of various conventions where anything can happen or be announced. In the US alone there's still E for All and PAX -- don't forget the Tokyo Games Show in Japan either.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
SCEE CEO knows nothing about a PSP phone
The PSP phone isn't happening ... or David Reeves, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has been left in the dark. After some very detailed patent filings were unveiled, the Sony CEO has responded, flatly denying the possibility of such a product. "I know the head of Sony Ericsson very well," he told MCV. "He has a Walkman phone and a Cybershot phone available, but I know nothing about a PSP phone."He adds, "I haven't heard anything about it at all – and I would know. They wouldn't develop it without our knowledge."Of course, in the games industry, it's not uncommon for an executive to be kept out of the loop.[Via Next Gen]
