The Godfather
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Paramount and Puzo estate settle Godfather game lawsuit
A lawsuit filed against Paramount Pictures by the Mario Puzo estate, which claims that the company owes $1 million to the deceased writer's family for sales and rentals of the 2006 video game adaptation of The Godfather, was settled out of court Friday. Electronic Arts, developer and publisher of the title, wasn't involved in the suit, as Paramount was responsible for handling the film's licensing rights. The terms of the settlement have yet to be explicitly explained, but we're guessing Paramount made the Puzo estate an offer that they found impossible to turn down. Wait, we mean -- dammit!
Joystiq hands-on: The Godfather II multiplayer
click to enlarge Back when we got our first look at The Godfather II's strategy-infused single player campaign, we wondered how its developers at EA Redwood Shores would translate that experience into the realm of multiplayer. As it turns out, there's strategy involved in the game's 16-player online matches – just of a different (and more familiar) sort.EARS (yeah, it doesn't like that acronym either) began development of the game's online component knowing that it wanted it to be influenced by single player, and vice-versa. So, for starters, you can't play multiplayer until you've recruited at least one soldier in single player. That character can then be used online, leveled up, and will retain his "upgrades" in the single-player game. %Gallery-39728%
First look at EA's The Godfather II
click to Don-size Casting players as a soldier of the Corleone Family, the original The Godfather from EA took the open-world formula of GTA and introduced some unique fist fighting and intimidation mechanics fitting of its namesake. It reviewed well enough, but its creator decided that, for the sequel, it would take a different approach: the Don's approach.As we've previously reported, The Godfather II is indeed a blend of action and strategy gameplay. Taking some liberties with the plot of the famous film, Michael Corleone has appointed the player's character as a fill-in Don. It's in this role that they plot against other families – each with their own ambitions – in an effort to rule all of the rackets in Havana, Miami, and New York City. %Gallery-29683%
EA: Godfather 2 in late 2008 or early 2009
EA's John Riccitiello doesn't like to keep things bottled up. Whether it's displeasure at how his gardener trimmed the bushes in his back yard or the change to the tried-and-true meatloaf recipe his wife enacted last night, if John's got something on his mind, odds are it's coming out of his mouth. And, for that, we love him.Take, for example, a recent investor call he took part in. The EA CEO spilled the beans that The Godfather 2 would be releasing shortly after another big EA title, Left 4 Dead. This would mean the game is slated for late this year to early next year for release. We're wondering if that's even possible, to tell the truth.We haven't really seen or heard much on the game, so we kind of have a hard time believing that it could release so soon. Also, with the Wii version of the game releasing later than other versions of the first title, we're wondering if EA will plan on doing that again with the sequel.[Via X3F]
Mario Puzo's son sues Paramount over The Godfather game
With the news that a second The Godfather game is in the works, Mario Puzo's son, Anthony, is none too pleased with the first game. We can only imagine how he feels about a sequel, considering he's suing Paramount over promised royalties from the first game, which were apparently never paid to the Puzo estate. The family is calling for $1 million in damages.This stems back to 1992, where Paramount agreed to give the Puzos a share of revenues resulting from any subsequent audio-visual products based on the films.[Via Joystiq]
EA boss confirms sequel to The Godfather
We actually weren't that disgusted in The Godfather, to be honest. Sure, the game takes some liberties and it isn't anywhere near the quality of the movies it's based on, but there's a certain bit of evil fun that can be found in beating up a shop owner because they refuse to pay protection money. Now, EA is talking about a sequel.EA boss John Riccitiello talked up the sequel at a William Blair & Company's investor meeting Tuesday, stating that EA's Redwood Shores studio has been working on it. "It's a game that I think we'll be talking a lot about this fall," said Riccitiello. "You can play this game both at the street level, much like a GTA-style game, but you can also play it top-down, almost like you're in an RTS, controlling the strategy of the boroughs so you can see what's going on..." EA's Hunter Smith (he worked on their previous two James Bond games) will serve as the game's producer.
About the Bloggers: moo Money
Twice a week, our writers will tell you more about themselves, and let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more About the Bloggers.What do you do for WoW Insider?I write the daily machinima posts for both WoW Insider, and its broader MMO sister site, Massively.What's your main right now?This won't make me very popular, but I actually don't really play WoW. I did for a while after it came out, but I'm not a very good grinder and it just got lonely.This is an outrage! How dare you write about WoW without playing it?That's actually a really good question. I got my start in machinima roughly two years ago when I was hired to promote it in Second Life, an oft-mocked virtual world. Through experimentation with machinima, as well as the education that I provided to others, I became known as one of the "It" people for machinima in SL. When Second Life Insider folded into Massively in November 2007, I volunteered to write the daily Cinemassively. After about 45 days straight of blogging them, WI asked me to do the same for WoW Moviewatch!Read on to find out more about the Notorious M.O.O. ...
Comcast HD VOD library expands with gangster-themed titles
Another month, another handful of HD VOD updates from Comcast. This go 'round, the carrier's looking to help you vent your tax day frustrations by offering up a suite of anti-establishment, gangster-themed flicks in brilliant high-definition. Most notably, American Gangster and The Godfather trilogy will be available to subscribers in HD, and just in case the aforementioned titles are a bit too dark for your tastes, you can also tune into MTV's Real World: Season 20 premier a week prior to it airing on MTV. Sure, we would've preferred a price cut for the month to help cope, but we 'spose this will have to do.[Image courtesy of Universal / Entertainment Wallpaper]
Broken Godfather achievements now un-broken
We know this news only affects roughly 0.8% of the gaming community, but those who own the The Godfather and purchased the Corleone Challenge downloadable content need to be informed. Informed that the DLC's once borked achievements are now working properly.You see, when the Corleone Challenge DLC went live (and all this time) the additional achievements were sorta borked. Borked not because one couldn't unlock the achievements, but borked because no Gamerscore was given once unlocked. Well, today EA confirmed that they've fixed the Gamerscore problem saying that it was due to a "temporary server glitch", but all has been fixed. So, from now on, EA promises that all of The Godfather's achievements will unlock and pony up their assigned Gamerscore. For those who unlocked the achievements previous to the fix, well, you'll have to go through the account recovery process to earn your Gamerscore. And that's no joke.
The Godfather gets Corleone DLC and achievos
The other day, EA smacked us over the head with a bottle of "we're surprising the crap out of you" and released some new downloadable content for ... The Godfather? Yes sir, someone at EA thought creating paid DLC for The Godfather was a great idea and we wouldn't disagree if it wasn't for the fact that we don't believe anyone has played the game for over a year. But watcha gonna do? Anyway, the new Corleone Challenge expansion pack is on the XBLM for 260 Microsoft points and adds twelve new missions to the game as well as ten additional achievements worth 250 Gamerscore. Yeah ... where the heck did this come from again?
Joystiq hands-on: The Godfather (PS3/Wii)
The Godfather The Don's Edition (PS3)EA released The Godfather for the Xbox, PS2, and PC about ten months ago, with the Xbox 360 out in September, 2006. Even with the market potentially The Godfather-saturated, the company is readying versions of the game for the Wii and PS3 to ship in March, about a year after the original. In the time since the first launch, EA has added more missions and settings to the new games, including a few gameplay changes that affect the whole experience.I recently tried the updated The Godfather games; EA even showed The Godfather Blackhand Edition (for Wii) next to The Godfather The Don's Edition (for PS3) side-by-side, allowing further scrutiny between the platforms. While my time with the games was limited, I walked away hopeful that the new versions add interesting motion-controls and more to do, likely justifying their release.
More free stuff: Godfather theme on XBLM
And you thought our Canadian friends only got free stuff today. In all Xbox Live regions you can download a The Godfather theme from the XBLM for free. Actually, there was a mild mishap and the theme went on the marketplace for 150 MS points (a ripoff, looking at the quality of this theme), but all has been fixed and it is free once again. Silly EA, it's not even the holidays anymore, your free content wasn't free, and after looking at the theme I don't see why it is labeled as a holiday theme. But no complaining from us, it's free content.
EA charging twice for downloadable content [update 1]
It's hard to top the Madden tutorial scam, but EA appears to be trying. Downloading the "Level 4 Tommy Gun – Spectre Minigun" for The Godfather will set you back 100 Microsoft points ($1.25); actually getting to use the weapon will set you back $750,000 worth of in-game currency. Don't got $750,000? Don't worry. EA's got you.You can purchase $250,000 worth of Godfather bills for an additional 150 points ($1.50). Not a bad exchange rate, eh? (Sense our sarcasm?)Let's review: you buy the Spectre once with real money, and then again with virtual money. When you realize you don't have enough virtual money, you turn around and use more real money to buy more virtual money, so you can re-buy the gun you already bought with real money. Ain't that something?Update: To clarify, you can only purchase the $250,000 in-game currency download once ($50,000 & $100,000 downloads are also available for one-time purchase). What's most alarming is that EA removed the cheat code for money from the Xbox 360 version.
An empire of new features for Vice City Stories
GTAPortable.com has been keeping an eye out for everything Vice City Stories-related, and they've uncovered a plethora of new information for this highly anticipated PSP exclusive. Golf is now a playable mini-game. It will be played using only one button. "Empire Building" mode allows you to act like The Godfather and invest in businesses throughout the city. Depending on how much you've invested, and how the business is doing, you can make a fair sum of money... so long as you provide the proper protection. You can hire bodyguards, and when the business isn't being hit, it acts like a Safe House for you to save at. Taking a page from Sim City, you'll be able to place the businesses throughout the city, and proper placement can lead to the mad profit (an example cited by GTAPortable.com is a drug extortion business nearby an airport). Spanning over thirty buildings, this mode seems to add a hefty amount of gameplay to an already massive game. Business types can include protection, extortion, and prostitution, with many more to come. Like in Liberty City Stories, there will be load times between the major islands, but surprisingly this time around, the loads will be even shorter, according to TotalVideoGames. Not only can you ride around in helicopters, you can ride around in jets, according to an IGN preview. Although there is no infrstructure multiplayer, there will be more multiplayer modes to compete in. And unfortunately for German and Australian players, the game will be censored, according to Gamepro.de. This really does seem like it's going to be one of the best games of 2006, not only on the PSP, but across all platforms. The depth of this game is incredible, and the fact that it's on a handheld is even more amazing. The game comes out on October 30th for $50.
Godfather PSP, 360 details emerge
Computer and Video Games brings word that the PSP and Xbox 360 versions of The Godfather will both offer something different from the original Xbox and PS2 version. EA announced that the PSP game, called The Godfather: The Mob Wars, will have some of the missions from the console version plus "an exclusive 'turf wars' strategy mode."The Xbox 360 Godfather will not only have the obvious visual upgrade but "all-new missions and contract hits, a new family compound, new venues, and more interaction with key characters." Both games are slated to hit this fall, and really, not soon enough. Some of us have been holding off on getting the game until the next-gen version appeared. At the very least, another potentially strong title for the PSP is on deck.
Images you can easily refuse
Xboxyde brings us images of the long awaited 360 version of the Godfather. "Then why did you post an image of the Xbox version?" you ask. Well, kids, that image up there...that is from the 360 version. Boring building textures, character models that look nothing like EA's early target footage, it's all pretty not great.So, who wants to spend an extra 10 bucks on a (slightly) higher resolution Xbox game? Anybody? Hmmm?
