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Screens for the Man of Steel
The shaky, disease-ridden addicts over at XboxAddict have posted some new screens of Superman Returns. This could turn out to be a great game, but thus far the screenshots have not thrilled me. They lack zing. No verve at all. Hopefully, my fears are completely unfounded and this will be the best Superman since the arcade game, but I'm not holding my super breath.
NYTimes: games industry is taking a beating
The New York Times is running a doom and gloom piece on the current economic state of the big four publicly traded game publishers: Activision, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, and THQ. It's nothing we haven't heard before; higher next-gen development costs coupled with a console transition which have not only historically proven to be difficult, but the current one especially so. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick "acknowledged that there were challenges, including a growing need to produce games more efficiently. He said the industry would probably also focus more narrowly on games with hit potential (selling several million copies) as opposed to a scattershot approach of creating numerous games that sell one million copies or less." This blockbuster approach runs contrary to the XBLA success story, or quirky DS hits like Pheonix Wright. So basically, Activision doesn't subscribe to the long tail.Pretty damning evidence of this trend: following E3 in May, "Electronic Arts' shares have fallen to $42.30, from $56.80; Activision to $11.58, from $14.19; THQ to $21.49, from $25.63; and Take-Two to $13.10, from $17.05." Ouch! Well, that's my cue to go grab some TTWO and ATVI shares![Thanks, laserboyjc]
Update: Teaching with Games project discovers school computers are not up to date, holding students back
Last September, when Teaching with Games project* workers headed into UK schools with stacks of CD-ROMs, they didn't anticipate that the schools' computers would not be equipped with CD-ROM drives. Futurelab's Annika Small believes that technology is affecting the UK education system's ability to adapt to the times. "If you look at a classroom, it has hardly changed at all in the past 150 years," says Small.The current education system is at odds with technology, scrambling to combat tech-savvy kids who are using devices, like their cell phones, to cheat. Small argues that if schools embrace technology and train teachers to tap into its educational potential, students will readily reform.*The Teaching with Games project is run by Futurelab, an education charity, in collaboration with Electronic Arts.See also: And today's homework is: play videogames
Wii impressions: Madden NFL 07
This doesn't work. In Madden's case, and likely most mainstream sports titles, motion-controlled functions can't compete with good looks (e.g. fluid animations, realistic physics, etc.). This is the risk Nintendo took. And this is an instance where that risk has put Nintendo at a disadvantage versus its competitors.Madden NFL 07 is fugly, and if the tech demo of EA's next generation of sports titles we saw at Sony's media briefing is any indication, PS3, and Xbox 360 for that matter, will see some incredibly enhanced animation and physics upgrades over the coming years. Nintendo will trade these improvements for the ability to hike the ball with a wrist snap or attempt a pass with a wrist flick -- heck, Sony's PS3 controller can do that. There are other motions for jukes, straight arms, and kickoffs. But these motions don't make us feel any closer to the real sport, if anything, they're just tedious. First we have to select a receiver using the appropriate button, and then we have to flick the wrist. Why can't we just press A?Madden for Wii needs a new direction.
Bond takes order from Activision, EA's out
As of yesterday, our favorite secret-agent with a license to kill will be taking orders from somewhere else. Yup, M EA's out of the picture and number two publisher, Activision, will be handling the James Bond franchise from now on. "Who does number two work for?"EA has been chasing the success of Rare's 1997 N64 classic, Goldeneye; having secured the rights to the Bond franchise until 2009, EA has made five Bond titles, none of which achieved Goldeneye's level of success. When Sony bought MGM in 2004, things apparently went south (shades of the messy Never Say Never Again situation). EA has since decided to give up the franchise to "refocus on all-new games" allowing Activision to obtain the exclusive license to the franchise until 2014. Will Activision reinvigorate the Bond franchise while EA creates attractive, original titles? Never say never.[Thanks to everyone that sent this one in](Update: cleared up some confusing language. It's much better now.)
Carmack returns to cell games with Orcs & Elves
MTV News has a story on Doom co-creator, and gaming guru, John Carmack's latest FPS megahit Orcs & Elves; only thing is, it's not based on some new super-engine that he hand-coded -- using only one hand, mind you -- while building rocketships with the other. Nope, it's a cell phone game. And it's not even an FPS really, it's "an interpolated first-person action-adventure sort of RPG." Err, right.So why return to cell phone gaming so soon after the unlikely hit of last year's Doom RPG? Sure, Fountainhead, the game design company working on Orcs & Elves for EA (who bought Doom RPG's publisher Jamdat last year) is run by Carmack's Mrs., but there has to be more to get one of PC gaming's biggest power-developers trading in his Ferrari for a Yugo. His vision: "'I do sort of have this grand scheme of, we do Orcs & Elves and we do a sequel and we go into this massively multiplayer Orcs & Elves world.' He sees people connecting across their cell phones, using the phone's built-in speaker and earpiece to communicate through the fantasy world."Some Verizon customers can get the game this Sunday, with additional cell phone platforms available in July.
EA says Madden Revolution not a port
We're not sure if this is brilliant or incredibly, incredibly foolish, but EA has revealed that the upcoming Revolution Wii release of Madden (of course there was going to be a Madden Revolution Wii), is not going to be a half-assed port. Instead, EA has established a "new internal studio within Electronic Arts Canada specifically set up to make Nintendo Revolution games" and they've sent out exec John Schappert to preach why simple ports are a bad idea.Schappert dishes some serious Revolution Wii control scheme pr0n, teasing Gamasutra: "You're... a receiver, you just caught the ball. You want to stiff arm? Take your hand out and extend it. You want to juke left or right? Jerk your arm left or right. So in addition to using the pointing device to select plays, we've completely redone the control scheme as if the Revolution was the only platform." That sounds unique enough to make our Revolution...err, rather, umm, Wii-exclusive list. EA, king of all ports, sounds like they really have the right idea here. With a control scheme like this, next-gen sports fans might be eschewing shiny graphics and calling Revolution Wii home. Our worry? How many people are going to get drunk and start tossing revmotes around like footballs?Read - Gamasutra: EA's John Schappert on Madden for Nintendo RevolutionRead - Gamespot: EA brings Madden to Revolution[Thanks, Paul, Simon, and Probot][Update 1: Added in new name--Wii?--and link to Wii games post.]
Crysis redefines the 'game face'
IGN has posted 19 new screenshots of Crytek's Crysis. The game utilizes the new CryENGINE 2 technology and advanced DirectX 10 architecture, making for some [insert expletive] mad crazy visuals, yo. If these scenes don't impress you, you're just a cold, heartless gamer...[Via Digg]
EA losing its hold but still UK number one
ELSPA, the UK's Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association, has released an analysis of last year's game sales in the UK which focuses on market share. EA is well ahead of any competitors with an 18.5% market share--the nearest rival is THQ with 7.2%--and EA's dominance is reflected in the fact that four out of the year's ten top-selling titles are theirs. However, the figures are changing, and EA's grip is loosened slightly from 2004, with rivals inching towards the top and EA slowly slipping down, showing there is definitely scope for manoeuvre. It's a disappointing chart for the British games industry, though; UK companies are nowhere to be seen in the top ten. With Eidos (now part of SCi) and Codemasters set to deliver this year, things are looking up for 2006, but the amount of market share commanded by EA is formidable--smaller publishers just can't keep up with the number of titles released and overall sales. Fortunately, percentages aren't everything when it comes to making good games.
