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SouthPeak claims creditors used press to 'paint a negative picture' of the company
Throughout 2009 and 2010, SouthPeak's legal struggles made headlines. From the sweeping claims of unpaid work following the buyout of Gamecock Media Group to the lawsuits brought on by various companies that had done business with SouthPeak, a less than favorable image of the Texas-based game publisher had been created. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, SouthPeak chairman Terry Phillips defended his company, claiming creditors "used the press to try to put pressure on us; to try to squeeze a better deal out of us; to try to paint a negative picture of us." "You read a lot of it and you just think we've had a terrible year on the legal side," Terry Phillips added, "but we've not had one single substantive judgment against us whatsoever this year." He cited a French court's ruling in favor of SouthPeak over developer Nobilis, which granted the publisher "all rights on future [My Baby] games." Needless to say, SouthPeak is hoping for a sunnier 2011, as it expands the availability of Two Worlds 2, continues growing the My Baby family, and works with Nvidia to bring Tegra 2-powered games to Android devices.
Moto Racer 3 pops a totally sweet wheelie onto GOG
Your purchasing habits on Good Old Games probably focus mostly on RPGs, strategy games, strategy-RPGs and RPG-strategies -- however, let's flip the script today, shall we? The newest newcomer to the GOG storefront is Delphine Software's Moto Racer 3, a motorcycle racer originally released way back in 2002. At $10, Moto probably doesn't offer the dollar-to-timesink ratio you'd get from an Arcanum or a Neverwinter Nights -- but aren't you tired of all that high fantasy, anyways? Don't you want to drive some two-wheeled vehicles through heavy traffic at irresponsible velocities sometimes? Of course you do. That's just human nature.
Nobilis joins GOG, brings Moto Racer games
Trine publisher Nobilis has been added to the collection of companies selling their good old games on GOG. Right away, one of its most recognizable franchises has been added to the DRM-free stormfront: Moto Racer -- the only motorcycle racing series developed by Another World's Delphine Software. The first Moto Racer, offering superbike and motocross events, is available for download now at a price of $5.99. The second and third games will follow "soon." Along with the Nobilis games, GOG has also released Chaser, a 2003 FPS by Cauldron Ltd, starring an amnesiac trapped on a spaceship and unaware of why he's being pursued by other occupants.
SouthPeak to stop selling 'My Baby' during legal issues
While SouthPeak continues its legal dispute with My Baby developer Nobilis and publisher Majesco over the rights to the franchise and My Baby 3, the publisher will discontinue selling My Baby Girl and My Baby First Steps. SouthPeak Chairman Terry Phillips stated in an investor call today, "We firmly believe we are the rightful holder of the intellectual property to this franchise." He continued that the company is currently in court proceedings to resolve, what he calls, the wrongful termination of its agreements with Nobilis and is seeking damages for the developer soliciting the My Baby 3 rights to Majesco. He concluded that the company plans to "vigorously" defend its position. The My Baby franchise has been a "significant" part of the company's revenue, according to Phillips. So, missing My Baby 3 -- along with the other titles -- from the portfolio isn't helping SouthPeak's already glum financials.
Nobilis fires back at SouthPeak over My Baby IP, blames lack of payment for Majesco move
Responding to recent legal action between former My Baby franchise publisher SouthPeak Games and new publisher Majesco Entertainment, My Baby developer (and IP owner) Nobilis has placed blame for the move on "uncured breaches from SouthPeak, notably for non-payment." In so many words, it appears that Nobilis -- like other SouthPeak debtors -- is still waiting on unpaid bills from the publisher. Nobilis managing director Arnaud Blacher spoke with IndustryGamers regarding the lawsuit, saying that his company will also pursue litigation with SouthPeak over the issue. Furthermore, he confirmed that "all the contracts signed with SouthPeak in the US or in the UK have been terminated." As with most things legal, this situation is sure to get a lot more complicated long before we hear any sort of resolution. SouthPeak had yet to respond to a request for comment as of publishing.
SouthPeak suing Majesco over My Baby 3
Joystiq has confirmed with SouthPeak Games that the company has taken legal action against Mama game publisher Majesco Entertainment, specifically regarding the right to publish My Baby titles in the United States. The litigation was spurred by an announcement last month that Majesco would be publishing the Nobilis-developed My Baby 3 & Friends, an action SouthPeak claims Majesco wasn't legally allowed to take. For its part, SouthPeak issued this statement on the impending litigation: "We are exceptionally proud of our success in making the My Baby franchise a leader in the North American market; our innovative sales, marketing and PR strategies brought My Baby to a huge audience and built a loyal fan base for future products. SouthPeak continues to hold the rights to subsequent My Baby games and we intend to vigorously protect those rights." Additionally, we've confirmed that, while SouthPeak claims a contractual right to publish "subsequent My Baby games" in the US, Nobilis owns the My Baby IP. So, whose baby is it? That remains to be contested (Majesco and Nobilis reps hadn't responded as of publishing). And while SouthPeak recently acquired a $10 million loan, as well as another $5.5 million injection announced just this week, the company's still running into financial and legal issues left and right. "It's no secret that CDV is currently in dispute with SouthPeak Games along with many other companies, whilst CDV is itself in administration," SouthPeak exec Jonathan Hales told IndustryGamers recently, responding to the seizing of 40,000 units of SouthPeak stock by bailiffs on behalf of CDV. "We have sent High Court Enforcement Officers in last Friday and they took 40,00 units -- two trucks worth of stock -- out of the warehouse that SouthPeak uses. They had until yesterday to apply to court to stop that being sold at auction and as far as I'm aware they didn't make an application. We've also frozen the money from their distributor Centresoft," reps from CDV said. It looks like the custodianship of My Baby is just one of many legal battles SouthPeak may be facing in the coming months.
Trine coming to US PSN today; Frozenbyte answers the obvious question
What happened? Frozenbyte has reiterated that Trine will really, for reals be available on PSN today. The PSN puzzle-platformer was supposed to be out in July, before the PC version, but it failed to meet either of those deadlines. So why is it three months late?Essentially, as Frozenbyte has said, the delay can be attributed to stringent testing for a console release, combined with a long wait for approval of every test -- with just a dash of Sony marketing strategy. Frozenbyte's Joel Kinnunen has described the issue in a lengthy forum post. "The reason why the US version is so late is a bit of a similar situation as the overall delay," Kinnunen wrote. "We had the US version done around the same time as the European version and I think the publisher submitted it swiftly after hearing the European version was 'ok.'" After that delay, Kinnunen believes, it was Sony's desire to "give the game a good window with regards to other PSN titles/content" that kept it off the US PlayStation Store until today.
SouthPeak releasing DS music training software
In a weird coincidence, a second DS music learning game has been announced, following the discovery of Jam Sessions 2. The DS is determined, as a platform, to teach you music if it kills you. SouthPeak will publish Nobilis's Music, a DS "musical activity game" based on Shiro Tsuji's "Anybody Can Read Music" teaching method, this fall.Music features a series of music lessons, along with various quizzes, and 65 "notable compositions" to learn and play on the game's virtual instruments. There is also a selection of cute rhythm minigames. For adept amateur musicians, the game lets players create and record their own compositions.%Gallery-44541%
New Trine trailer focuses on physics-based co-op gameplay
No, Trine isn't available on PSN ... yet! However, a brand new trailer on the PlayStation.blog makes us wish we could play it on our PS3s right now. (Note: You can buy it on Steam ... but it'll cost you some more.) This new footage focuses on the co-op gameplay and how multiple players can take advantage of the physics system to help each other traverse the game's 16 levels. Unfortunately, there's no release date revealed on the blog, other than a simple "coming soon." Boo. Soon doesn't mean today, does it?See the trailer after the break.
Trine delivers innovative co-op play to PSN in June
It's been a while since we last heard of Trine, an innovative platformer where players must "create and use physics-based objects to beat hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies." A newly released trailer showcases the game's co-op play, where multiple characters will have to assist each other to traverse the environment. The production values are rather impressive, certainly exceeding our expectations for an indie downloadable game.The co-op play will be, according to Eurogamer, jump-in and jump-out, making for an easy multiplayer experience. Trine will release on PlayStation Network and PC in June. To rewatch the first trailer for the game, click past the break.%Gallery-50263%
First look at Nobilis' music training game
Maybe we're just suckers for video games as music teaching tools (as suggested by the dusty NES Miracle Keyboard in our closet), but we're pretty intrigued by Nobilis' MUSIC. The publisher has released the first screens about the training title, revealing the focus of some of the lessons, most of which seem to deal with reading music. In addition, interactive quizzes ask players to identify notes, arrange notes to match sound samples, and match pitch contours to samples. MUSIC also features virtual keyboard and drums, along with a selection of songs to play. The minigames on the cartridge include activities like a rhythm game in which players pop balloons by clapping.MUSIC comes out in Europe in April. No US release has been announced. %Gallery-44541%
Nobilis reveals Music, the game
If your entire musical career consists of playing third triangle in an elementary school production of Joseph (check), this may be of interest to you. This April, French publisher Nobilis will release Music, a title that promises to teach you about real, actual music, as opposed to teaching you how to work your way up to the orange button.Nobilis is teaming up with "famous Japanese music teacher" Shiro Tsuji to deliver 21 lessons covering the basics of music theory. These will take the form of minigames that test your sense of rhythm, your memory, and your musical ear, amongst other things. There'll also be virtual instruments, such as a piano and drums, to practice your new skills on.All of which sounds like it could be an intriguing addition to the DS training genre. We just wish we had some media to gawk at -- at the time of writing, even the official website, as included in the press release, isn't up.[Via press release]
Trine brings fantasy action to PlayStation Network next year
Nobilis and Frozenbyte are bringing a new fantasy action game to the PC and PlayStation Network next year. Trine allows players to "create and use physics-based objects to beat hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies." Players will control three heroes that must use the "Trine" to save the kingdom from -- you guessed it -- evil.Players can freely choose between one of three characters at any time: The Wizard is able to summon objects to help solve puzzles and create new ways to overcome obstacles, the Thief uses her agility and dead-on accuracy to swiftly surprise the monsters, and the Warrior unleashes mayhem and physical destruction wherever he goes."This is the first game we publish on the PlayStation® Network and we are thrilled to work with Frozenbyte on this very exciting game project!" declares Arnaud Blacher, CEO of Nobilis Group.
Moto Racer DS is two-wheeled tomfoolery
When it comes to racing on the DS, we have the good, the bad, and the monstrously ugly. Moto Racer DS looks to be a refreshing change from the usual flurry of mediocrity -- both as a motorbike racing game and as a pretty impressive technical showcase. The environments look nicely detailed, and the tracks scream FUN!The biggest selling point we can see is the aptly-named Stylus Precision Handling (SPH). There isn't much of an indication on how this will work, and the touchscreen images in the gallery display only a map. Moto Racer DS supports up to 8 player Wi-Fi races, and features 44 tracks in a variety of road and dirt racing. That's quite a hefty amount of content, and we're hoping for a solid experience when it comes out in Q4 this year.%Gallery-28053%[Via press release]
Case Closed: The Unexpected Localization
Here's a slightly random announcement: this September, those of us not in Japan will be treated to a Detective Conan (or, as it's known outside Japan, Case Closed) game, after publisher Nobilis snagged the rights to publish Marvelous' Meitantei Conan: Tsuioku no Gensou "all over the world."Case Closed: The Mirapolis Investigation will see pint-sized manga detective and bespectacled, precocious sod Jimmy Kudo return to locate clues, attend crime scenes, collect evidence, and tackle mini-games. His aim? To finally catch a shadowy figure who crashes the opening of a new theme park with a series of crimes.Truth be told, this is one for the kids (much like the Japan-only DS game), but Nobilis is doing what it can to keep the hardcore fans happy: the original Japanese anime voices, for example, will remain intact. Grab your magnifying glass and sleuth your way past the break for both a TV spot and trailer for the Japanese version.
My Baby Girl/Boy video scares us away from parenthood
It's not often that we post trailers for baby-raising sims, and one look at this video from My Baby Girl/Boy will explain why -- they're scary. Obviously us and most of our readers aren't the targeted group for such a game, but even so, we think this might deserve and "M" for "Mature" rating. How much more mature can you get than raising a baby anyway? My Baby Girl/Boy also seems to leave nothing up to the imagination, except for the birthing process (and who knows, maybe not even that). From bathing the babies, to playing games with them, to wiping their butts and changing their diapers, you have to do it all.To be nice, it does seem that the stylus works well for the gameplay involved.[Via GoNintendo]
More games to put girls in their place
In case all the Ubisoft games that end with a "z" weren't enough for you, Nobilis has announced releases for both My Baby Girl and My Baby Boy in June. The games will probably be the same, only one will involve raising (and possibly birthing) a girl in an atmosphere of pink things, while the other will feature a boy and a blue theme.Perhaps the most unsettling facet of these games is Nobilis's marketing and the compulsive use of sonograms. Not only did we see one in the press release, which announced that the games would "birth" soon, but there's also a Flash sonogram on the games' official website. Dealing with children isn't our forte, so forgive us if we're wrong, but don't things like this just bring up uncomfortable questions with parents?We suppose it could be worse, though; the games could be called My Baby Girlz and My Baby Boyz, after all.[Via press release]
