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NBC-Comcast deal comes under Justice Department, FCC scrutiny
We can't say we didn't warn you. Looks like the kids at Comcast have to answer some questions over at the Justice Department -- and the FCC -- before they get their hands on NBC. Both agencies have pledged to "examine the transaction closely," says AP, being ever-vigilant as they are to protect consumers and competition in this free market society of ours. The review could last upwards of a year, but if that means that 2011 could see the debut of NBC-Universal's "Comcastic!" theme parks, it will all have been worth it.
Activision shuts down fan-made King's Quest sequel
After successfully fighting a cease and desist order by Vivendi Universal five years ago, the unofficial continuation to the King's Quest series has been shut down for good. In 2005, fans successfully convinced Vivendi to allow the indie team behind The Silver Lining to continue development, thanks in part to a letter writing campaign. The original deal would see the game's authorized release as part of a non-commercial fan license; however, current King's Quest IP holder Activision has decided (after "talks and negotiations") it is not interested in entering a similar agreement with the indie team. In 2008, Activision said it didn't have any immediate plans to utilize the classic licenses (including King's Quest) it received in the infamous $18 billion merger with Vivendi. What concludes is eight long years of development by a dedicated fan base. On the fan project's official site, a letter from the development team thanks fans for their continued support and shares its disappointment in the decision. It's always difficult when hard work goes unnoticed and we wish everyone involved the best of luck. [Thanks, Chris]
Bobby Kotick didn't think Blizzard was worth $7 million in '96
Have you ever looked at something new on the auction house and thought "Who would pay a thousand gold for that," only to find that months later the item has skyrocketed in price and you missed a golden opportunity to pick it up on the cheap? Activision kingpin Bobby Kotick might make the same analogy. If he played video games, I mean. The Escapist clued us in to this little story: back in 1995, Kotick was eating lunch with some folks from Davidson & Associates, and they told him that they had just bought up-and-coming software developer Blizzard Entertainment for the tidy sum of seven million dollars -- a number that a baffled Kotick believed to be ridiculous. At the time, Blizzard's claim to fame was Warcraft: Orcs vs. Humans, and ... that's pretty much it, save for a few one-off games like Blackthorne and The Lost Vikings. Kotick called them nothing more than a "contract developer" and remarked that they weren't worth seven million bucks. Of course, later that year, Blizzard released Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which catapulted them into gaming history forever. Thirteen years later, in 2008, Kotick (and Activision) paid seven billion dollars to acquire Blizzard. For those not into mathematics, that's one thousand times more than what Davidson & Associates paid. Well, he was right about one thing. They definitely weren't worth seven million bucks. He just didn't know how right he was at the time.
Poll: How do you feel about Comcast buying NBC?
Comcast has agreed to take a controlling interest of NBC from GE and whether the company has a can of Raid waiting for Hulu or not, there's a lot of potential reactions to this new deal. Some have the opinion that another team to take on the Disney-ABC-ESPN combination could help keep prices down for everyone, while others can't see how the government should allow so many media and communication outlets to be controlled by one company. So let's have it, what were you thinking when you heard about the buyout? %Poll-37978%
Comcast takes control of NBC, promises not to crush Hulu
As expected, Comcast announced its buyout of NBC this morning, and we have a few details of interest to Engadget readers and fans of rom-coms alike. Essentially, Comcast now owns 51 percent of NBC-Universal to GE's 49 percent and will manage the entity -- leveraging the newly acquired content with their infrastructure. On an investor call (reported by All Things Digital) a short time ago, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts emphasized that the company bought "a bunch of profitable cable channels" and "some theme parks, too" (we think that last part was a joke). Not so funny, of course, is the film studio that's seen better years and the broadcast network that's been described elsewhere as "faltering." When asked about TV Everywhere and Hulu, Comcast COO Steve Burke notes that "NBC has been careful not to put too much cable content on the Internet. We think that's a smart strategy... We think that going forward, you're going to continue to have free broadcast stuff on Hulu, and cable stuff on TV Everywhere." As for rumors of Hulu Premium? "That's certainly not in the cards." Web-based TV fanatics will be pleased to note that Roberts appears to be in your court: "We love Hulu and have no intent to crush it like a bug." That's all well and good, but as we know nothing's final until the government has its say: the FCC, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Justice Department are all sure to have strongly held opinions on the matter. PR after the break. Update: The "crush it like a bug" comment was actually just some editorializing from Peter Kafka at All Things Digital -- but we're certain Steve Burke has only love in his heart for Hulu.
Comcast inches closer to buying NBC
It's been over a month since we last heard anything about the rumored Comcast takeover of NBC, but things are slowly starting to move forward: Bloomberg says that NBC parent company GE has bought out Vivendi's 20 percent stake in the broadcaster for $5.8b, with up to a $2b refund due back if the Comcast deal isn't done by the end of 2010. That's no small gamble -- Comcast will have to clear a "gauntlet" of federal regulators from the FCC and FTC, who will scrutinize everything from the transfer of TV broadcast licenses in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to the effects on competitors like Dish Network and Verizon, who will still want access to NBC's huge stable of content and programming. Big challenges, to be sure, but we get the feeling this deal is going down one way or another -- get ready for a rocky 2010.
Comcast denies possible purchase of NBC, claims it can only offer a window
Surprising absolutely no one who has ever waited for a repair or installation, an internet rumor Wednesday suggested Comcast is in talks to take advantage of an oddly scheduled window of availability to purchase NBC Universal. Whether it shows up on time is still up in the air, but with ownership of the media group divided 80/20 by GE and Vivendi the rumored deal would be worth $35 billion, with around $7 billion due Vivendi during this annual period when it can exercise a put option on the shares it owns. Time Warner and DirecTV owner Liberty Media have also been rumored as suitors, can anyone imagine NBC and Syfy under the same umbrella as Versus?
Ghostbusters cost $15-20 million, devs would love to revisit franchise
Ghostbusters: The Video Game has allegedly sold over one million copies -- after costing $15-20 million to produce. The figures were revealed in a feature about developer Terminal Reality in the Star-Telegram of Texas. Although the price tag may seem high, it's not unusual for next-gen development. Remember, Ken Levine revealed BioShock cost about $15 million in fancy 2007 dollars. Terminal Reality's co-founder, Mark Randel, says he's heard the game's success has sparked interest in a third movie and, if that happens, he'd love for the company to handle development of the obligatory tie-in game. Let's see if we got this straight: the next game would be based on the third Ghostbusters movie, spawned by the success of the video game, created to tie in with the 25th anniversary of the first movie and, of course, the game was written as if it were the third movie. We got that right? %Gallery-21636% [Via Edge]
Vivendi CEO becomes Activision Blizzard chairman
Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, will add the role of Activision Blizzard chairman to his resume. Levy will pick up the duties of outgoing 67-year-old Rene Penisson. Vivendi is the majority owner in the empire known as Activision Blizzard. Blizzavision is expected to announce strong sales in the bajillions - despite the economy's influence - during its financial report this Thursday.Activision Blizzard director, president and CEO Bobby Kotick had no reaction to the news, as he is currently on a deep exploration inside the company's money bin. He'll comment after returning and depressurizing in a couple weeks.
Activision-Blizzard is not Blizzard
I worked at Blizzard for close to three years. During my time there I saw a lot of big things happen: the closing of the Console Division and shelfing of Starcraft Ghost, the launch of the first (and second!) World of Warcraft expansion ... and one that some people say is the biggest event in Blizzard's history, Vivendi Games' merger with Activision.The merger was, of course, a controversial move; and, like any corporate maneuver, it's generated a lot of misunderstandings, misreporting, misinformation ... in general, it's been a flurry of mis-es. It's upsetting and frustrating to see so many people not understand what the merger means and, in turn, form stubborn opinions.If you want to help curb ignorance and misunderstanding regarding what's going on with the merger, you're in luck. My former employment at Blizzard means I have a lot of information to share to set the record straight. Even if you're going to continue believing that Blizzard is somehow dipping in quality or in a bad way because of the merger, at least read what I have to say. It'll be worth it.
Activision-Blizzard is not Blizzard, part 2
This portion addresses questions about the merger's affect on Blizzard's day-to-day. So if most publishers control what their developers produce, does Activision control what Blizzard does? No, since Activision is not Blizzard's publisher.What about in areas like support?When I was in support at Blizzard, the only negative change I noticed in my day-to-day work post-merger was that we suddenly had an influx of terrible A-B-themed benefits program posters hung up around the office. Things may have changed since I left, but my contacts have expressed mostly positive opinions about how things are running over there.Won't the merger result in a dip in quality of Blizzard products? Has it already?No and no. The merger gives Blizzard the opportunity to hire more employees to produce more content while maintaining the standard of quality that we expect from Blizzard. It also allows them to keep more employees due to the new financial backing provided by the merger, which affects things like benefits and payroll.Blizzard has stated that you can't get quality content made just by throwing money at it, but money obviously helps sometimes.Did Activision force Blizzard to release Wrath of the Lich King during the holiday season to maximize sales? Let me answer this with an anecdote.Blizzard's office walls are decorated with a lot of stuff -- concept art, murals, lifesize statues of characters, and posters with Blizzard's philosophies on art and design, etc. One of these posters talks about mistakes developers make, like pushing for a holiday release when the game's not done or polished enough.It's my belief, which is backed up by Blizzard bigwigs, that if they didn't feel the expansion was worthy for release then they wouldn't have released it when it was released. What's up with this money-making scheme of releasing Starcraft II as three games? This is because of their post-merger greed, right? I've been hearing this a lot lately. Even our own Mike Schramm commented that the Blizzard that let people play Warcraft 2 on Battle.net for free isn't the same Blizzard that's releasing three Starcraft II games.This really, really confuses me. Why would anyone familiar with Blizzard's work be put off by them releasing expansions? Because that's exactly what the last two Starcraft II titles will be -- expansions. One will add the Zerg campaign and one will add the Protoss campaign, as well as likely multiplayer additions and enhancements to the experience. The single-player campaign for each game will be incredibly robust as well, with tons of in-game engine cinematics and branching events. Devs explained to me that they had three choices once they realized the depth of the Terran campaign: - Shorten and pare down each campaign, resulting in campaigns about as long as Warcraft III, and release it as one game.- Make the campaigns as robust as possible and release the Protoss and Zerg campaigns in expansions.- Put everything in on game exactly how they want it and have Starcraft II come out in 2014.They said the the choice was obvious, and I agree. It's about delivering the player the best experience.Won't this merger result in a lot of stupid cross-promotions?Probably. Activision isn't known for its advertising or marketing subtlety. We dealt with it a little at work -- Activision sent us a ton of copies of Guitar Hero Aerosmith that none of us really cared about (but hey, extra Rock Band guitar, right?), as well as posters in the office with Activision desperately trying to equate our flagship properties with their licensed crap. Yes, Activision, clearly Zeratul is on the same level as the main character from Kung Fu Panda.The best I can hope for is that we'll never see World of Warcraft advertised on KFC combo meal boxes. Blizzard seems to consider the insulation of the WoW universe important, which is why we'll likely never see in-game advertising or "Lars Umlaut <Guitar Hero>" as an NPC.What's your personal opinion on the merger?From a corporate perspective, it makes sense and gives Blizzard access to more funding and assets. You can see that they've begun hiring a ton of designers and other WoW-relation positions, which can only increase the amount of content we get to experience and enjoy.From a gamer's perspective, Activision is an IP-exploiting shovelware mill run by a doddering blowhard who doesn't play games and it hurts my heart to see Blizzard's name attached to them.On the bright side, if you look at your Wrath box, you won't see Activision's logo on it anywhere. That's more than just literal -- it's symbolic, and I hope that it stays that way for a long, long time.If you have any specific questions about the merger that you think I can answer, you're more than welcome to email me at sacco [at] wowinsider dot com and I'll compile the questions and responses in a followup article.
World of Warcraft key to Vivendi's 2009 revenues
Vivendi, the media company that owns Activision Blizzard, recently laid out its plans for 2009 and, unsurprisingly, World of Warcraft plays an important role. During a recent conference call, Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy stated that the company is "extremely confident and resilient despite the current market conditions." Reuters reports that 70% of Vivendi's revenues are generated by "phone, Internet, pay-TV and online video games subscriptions," which help shield the company from current economic troubles."We expect video games to continue to show a nice growth," said Levy. He added, in what is perhaps the greatest understatement ever recorded, "We started the year with 12 million subscribers for World of Warcraft, which is a good base." With Activision Blizzard pumping out sequels to its major franchises and promising one major Blizzard release per year, we'd say Vivendi's gaming front is on fairly solid footing.
Born for Wii: Metal Arms
In an industry perpetuated by sequels, we see plenty of gamers rabidly demanding new installments in their favorite series, whether it be the predictable Madden: Year Edition, Medal of Honor: Kill Some More Nazis, or Metal Gear Solid: Even Longer Cutscenes. Of course, there's also a vocal community crying out against the terrible process of franchise-milking, demanding fresh characters and fresher concepts. Every year there are a few surprisingly original titles from the big studios. This year EA has been surpringly generous with new IPs, publishing heavy-hitters like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. In the past, we've gotten gems like Beyond Good & Evil and Zack & Wiki. Unfortunately, as we all know, new franchises mean new risks, and they don't always sell as well as they deserve.Last generation, few games exemplified this tragic situation more than Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. Created by Swingin' Ape Studios, this wonderfully charming and surprisingly deep third-person shooter would be the developer's only project -- though they started work on the infamous Starcraft Ghost, they were eventually absorbed by Blizzard, and the game eventually disappeared. For whatever reason -- poor advertising, unappealing box art, or bad timing -- Metal Arms was overlooked by many a gamer. Those who gave it a chance discovered a lengthy quest chock full of hilarious characters, a genuinely original world, and a veritable ton of weapons, and that's why Glitch in the System is this week's game that's Born for Wii. #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } NEXT >> %Gallery-38875% Every week, Born for Wii digs into gaming's sordid past to unearth a new treasure fit for revival on the Nintendo Wii. Be sure to check out last week's entry in the series, Wario's Woods, and for more great titles that deserve your attention, take a look at Virtually Overlooked.
Behind the Curtain: This too shall pass
And so we mark the passing of another MMO. I was going to add an adjective to that sentence, maybe 'great', 'fine' or even just 'good'. I couldn't decide, as I didn't play Tabula Rasa beyond the Open Beta. That's clearly not my fault though, obviously it's something to do with the developers not making exactly the game I wanted, needed or deserved at the time. Cry, whine, QQ, etc.Don't worry, this won't be an obituary for TR. That would be silly; I'm not lying when I say I didn't play it beyond Open Beta. I liked it well enough, but it lacked the spark that drives me to log on, night after night. The news of TR's demise however, has got me thinking. Like it or not, nothing lasts forever. MMOs are subject to the same financial rules as any other business, and sometimes those rules mean you lose. Regardless of how long we've been playing any particular game, how many alts you've raised up or how much of a home you've made for yourself in the community there, there's a chance your MMO will die eventually. Some games last longer than others; gaining enough momentum to garner a fair-sized and dedicated fanbase before they're shut down. Others barely get out of Beta testing before things go South, and the doors are closed before momentum really gets going.
Variety also says Atari picked up the Ghostbusters game
When Dan Aykroyd speaks, we all should listen. Variety is also claiming that Atari picked up the Ghostbusters game and will in fact be pushing it out onto store shelves. We're not sure if the game is still Wii-bound, but the article does mention Red Fly Studios, who, aside from Mushroom Men, were working on the PS2 and Wii ports of the game.So what's the big stink about a Ghostbusters game? Well, it's bringing all of the original talent back together for the voice work and is being written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, serving as the sequel to Ghostbusters II. If that isn't enough to get you excited, check your pulse. You might be dead.%Gallery-27664%[Via Gamasutra]
Servers for 21 Sierra games shutting down
What's left of Sierra after the great Activision/Vivendi merger recently announced that it will shut down 21 game servers on Nov. 1. The list is populated by titles that are from a few years back, but there are some goodies on there. No reason was given for the closure, but obviously Activision-Blizzard didn't want to pay the electric bill for them anymore. The full list of titles scheduled for online closure can be found after the break.[Via Eurogamer]
Swordfish Studio 'sources' deny 50 Cent game canceled
Swordfish Studio "sources" tell GI.biz that the rumor of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand's cancellation is not true. The site reports "sources close" to the studio say the game is currently having its bugs fixed, and that it is still expected to release this holiday. GI.biz goes on to note that the "studio is confident of a secure future in the industry." We'll have to wait and see if that future lies with Activision-Blizzard, though, as the publisher is still reviewing the status of several Sierra/Vivendi properties. Source - 50 Cent Blood on the Sand is Dead, Dead, Dead (Kotaku) Source - 50 Cent not canceled, despite rumors (GI.biz) %Gallery-21637%
Activision-Blizzard reveals that it's sitting on a big pile of money
This year, Activision and Blizzard merged under French media group Vivendi (Blizzard's parent company) to become the biggest, baddest game publisher in the known universe. To make sure investors know just how awesome that event was, Vivendi sent out a press release describing its generally excellent financial condition.Earnings for Vivendi as a whole were reported to be up 10.2% for the first six months of this year. While game division earnings are still actually down compared to this time last year, that should be no cause for alarm. It can be attributed to the lack of a World of Warcraft expansion. By this time last year, The Burning Crusade had reached store shelves.Vivendi assured investors that it still plans to release Wrath of the Lich King by the end of this year, so that bump is still coming. But will Wrath be as big as The Burning Crusade? By definition it can't be any bigger, because you have to have played the TBC content to reach the point where you can enjoy most of what Wrath has to offer, right? Apparently we'll see soon. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Activision Blizzard still 'reviewing' fate of Ghostbusters
For those of us who enjoyed unprecedented levels of excitement at the announcement of a Ghostbusters game, it's been a rocky ride ever since. First, we heard it was canceled, then the Terminal Reality boss said it would be published. Now, we just don't know what's up.The recently-merged Activision Blizzard doesn't know what's up, either. That's why they're still considering what to do with the game and "reviewing its options regarding titles that it will not be publishing." This means that should the company decide not to publish the game, it could be sold off to another publisher. Either way, we just want to see it release.%Gallery-27664%
Activision Blizzard still 'reviewing' fate of Ghostbusters, 50 Cent
It seems Activision Blizzard is still uncertain as to who it's gonna call -- to publish ectoplasmic epic Ghostbusters. Speaking to MCV, the newly melded megapublisher was still hesitant to divulge the "absolutely not cancelled" game's fate, along with the fate of fellow Vivendi leftovers like 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. In the wake of Vivendi UK's closure, Activision Blizzard's general manager for the region, Andrew Brown, pointed out that while "Crash, Spyro and Prototype will definitely be released this and next year," the company was still in the midst of "reviewing its options regarding titles that it will not be publishing." Sound familiar? If the games are found unsuitable for Activision's immense sequel conveyer belt, it's likely that they'll be shipped off to more eager publishers. Still, aren't you utterly relieved to learn that Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon are just fine? We were worried there for a second.
