Console SKUs of The Movies Not Dead After All

In a post on the official Lionhead Studios message forum, Lionhead Community Pet Sam Vantilburgh has revealed that the console SKUs of The Movies, the Hollywood studio management sim designed by Peter Molyneaux and released for the PC last year, have not been cancelled, despite previous reports.

“Activision will not be publishing the console version of The Movies but that does not mean the project is dead,” said Vantilburgh. “I’d like to add that PC sales for 2005 have been dissapointing (especially during Christmas) for everyone in this industry.”

Furthermore, Vantilburgh hinted at a previously-unannounced expansion pack.

“Rest assured that the team at Lionhead Studios are as dedicated to The Movies as they’ve ever been; an expansion pack is currently in development (which will be announced very shortly) and we are continuing to support The Movies Online!”

Despite disappointing sales, The Movies has been a critical success, with an 86% average rating on game review source Game Tab. Neither a release date nor a new publisher for the console ports have been announced.

Mother 3 Website Updated!

Early this morning (or last night in whacky Japan time), the Mother 3 website was updated with a mysterious gift box. Inside was a message stating that the website would be opened tommorow. Fast foward roughly 12 hours later and what we have is yet another chapter in what is perhaps the longest running cocktease ever.

There isn’t a single screenshot of the game to be found (with the release less than three months away), but the site now contains 16 gift boxes. Two are unwrapped so far, and another box will be unwrapped each week until the game’s release. The first is a rather strange message that roughly translates to “Strange, Fun. And…Painful”, while the second contains an mp3 of the game’s new theme song, further proving this won’t just be a downport of the Nintendo 64 version. As for what the page’s title, “Hobo First Itoi Newspaper” means, that’s a question best left for men greater than myself to contemplate.

Console Ports of The Movies Cancelled

During a conference call earlier today, global mega giant developing and publishing superstar Activision discussed that, like every other publisher and every other console for every new hardware generation change ever in this industry’s history, its third quarter 2006 fiscal year profits were lower than anticipated by Wall Street analysts. This is because - and this may shock you - when a new console comes out, i.e. the Xbox 360, your typical consumer doesn’t continue purchasing games for their old, ‘obsolete’ machines anymore. Instead they - hold on to your hats, folks - decide to save their money for the new, shinier machines and games coming out within the next year. And as a result, sales for existing machines drop dramatically. It’s an amazing phenomenon that analysts have yet to wrap their heads around.

As a result of Activision’s weaker-than-predicted financial performance - which, incidentally, was the highest grossing in company history, it just wasn’t as high as trusted, professional, hawk-eyed ANALYSTS thought it would be - some fat had to be trimmed. Namely, the console ports of Lionhead Studios’ The Movies have been cancelled. Specifically, SKUs for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Gamecube have been shelved. Fear not, though, the PC version is readily available. And I hear it’s an okay game!

Vaporware Roundup

Wired brings us a year-end round up of the top ten highly touted pieces of software and hardware that failed to exist this year. Highlights include a Zelda game that is going to come out, a StarCraft game that probably will, and a Valve sequel that probably won’t. All this and, of course, Duke Nukem Forever and the Phantom.

In related news, if you search for Duke Nukem Forever on Google Image Search, you will find a picture of Kelly Kapowski’s boobs. KABLAMO!

Battlefield 2 Developer Cancels Upcoming PS2 & Xbox Titles

According to a recent press release, Swedish developer Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE) and majority stockholder Electronic Arts have cancelled outsourced development for both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of their upcoming console game, which has yet to be officially titled or announced.

DICE CEO Patrick Soderlund blames poor holiday performance of both PlayStation 2 and Xbox software, particularly DICE’s own Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, which sold approximately one million copies last year. One million may seem like a lot, but as Soderlund explains, it’s not enough to pay the bills:

“Battlefield 2 Modern Combat has to sell-in in more than 4 million copies to retailers before Digital Illusions gets any royalty,” said Soderlund. “The high royalty barrier is due to the big development budget and the shared development between the Company and EA.”

“Because of the high royalty barrier we haven’t calculated with any considerable revenues from Battlefield 2 Modern Combat, besides what we already received for the actual development. This means the financial variables for the Company is not affected to any major extent.”

In other words, PS2 and Xbox games ain’t sellin’, and according to analysts, they ain’t gonna, so DICE is pulling out while they have a chance. The PSP port, however, is going according to schedule.

So, to sum it up: the guys who made Battlefield 2 are making a new game for EA, the title and genre of which are unknown. The game was planned for the PS2, Xbox, PSP, Xbox 360, and PS3. Now, the PS2 and Xbox versions are cancelled. Got it? Good. As you were, then.

Think Pink

Tempest of Atari Age has unearthed a prototype for an unreleased Atari game featuring the Pink Panther. Titled Pursuit of the Pink Panther, this game appears to be well-developed and would have been released for Atari’s 8-bit series of home computers. Check out the pulse wave rendition of Henry Mancini’s classic Panther theme at Atari Age!

Sonic Boom

Artist, designer, composer and all-around cool guy Chris Senn has seen fit to let the hedgehog out of the bag on Sonic X-Treme. Lost Levels brought you the story behind Sonic X-Treme back in March of 2004. Now feast your eyes and ears on a plethora of newly revealed media including character designs, non-interactive demos, storyboards, music and more on the Senntient.com Sonic X-Treme forum.

See all that could have been at Senntient.com, as well as Project Sonic’s Sonic X-Treme File Archive.