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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
Starmen.net is reporting an April 20th release date has been set in Japan for the latest installment in the Mother videogame series. The last installment, Mother 2, was released more than ten years ago and was renamed Earthbound in its North American incarnation.
A message board post by a moderator on the official website for Perception Studio’s Stargate: SG-1 indicates that the game, which has been in development for quite some time and has even gone as far as Alpha-level focus testing, has been cancelled.
The game, initially in development for crapflinger JoWood Studios (Yetisports, Neighbors from Hell 2), was dropped last year because the game, according to JoWood, satisfied “neither our quality requirements nor the fans expectations.” Perception countered these claims by reporting that JoWood, essentially, hadn’t been paying them, and was in breach of contract.
Small, independent publisher Namco (Pac-Man, Soul Calibur, Katamari Damacy) stepped in and assumed publishing rights for the game that didn’t meet JoWood’s high quality expectations (Gorky Zero, ITCH!, Keep the Balance) but, unfortunately, the licensing rights were never obtained from Stargate’s owner, MGM, and financial instability has killed the game - and, very likely, Perception Studios - for good.
Those wishing to read 43 pages of sad fans lamenting their loss are urged to click the link above.
The legendary lost game from Seta has finally been found! But is this the end of Lost Levels?!
Spotlight: Star Trek V
It should come as no surprise that the worst Star Trek movie would have made the worst Star Trek game.
Review: Colors
In this exclusive Lost Levels review, we take a thorough, introspective look at Colors, the GTA-alike that would have
saved the Gizmondo. SPECIAL BONUS: Sodomy inside!
Elusions: Thunder Force VI
A brief retrospective of the butt-rockingest series of shooters that ever was, and the Dreamcast sequel that wasn't.
Spotlight: Pescatore
A glitchy puzzle game with multi-colored seafood that bears more than a striking similarity to PuyoPuyo? Not very fresh.
Elusions: Final Fantasy 64
Is it possible that yet another title from
this popular series has eluded fans for over a decade?
Spotlight: Bashi Bazook
We promise this is the last unreleased Jaleco game
we'll ever talk about. Maybe.
Posted on February 6th, 2006 by Frank Cifaldi 
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.
Posted on February 6th, 2006 by 
Wired 
According to a 
Posted on February 3rd, 2006 by 
Tempest of 
Artist, designer, composer and all-around cool guy 
Posted on January 26th, 2006 by 
A 
