Boy its been a while, hasn't it?
This Week in Games for June 19th, 2009
Activision suggested they might have to stop releasing games for Sony's Playstation 3. Speaking with The Times UK, Activision boss Bobby Kotick say “I'm getting concerned about Sony; the Playstation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform … Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the Playstation.”
Sony replied with a non-comment saying “We enjoy healthy business relationships with and greatly value our publishing partners and are working closely with them to deliver the best entertainment experience.”
If you ask me, this looks like Activision telling Sony that they either need to sell more consoles, or ease up on the $500 million in royalties Activision had to pay them over the last year. I doubt we'll see an Activison/Sony divorce, but we'll bring you more on this story if it develops.
Microsoft says there will be no new console in 2010. Steve Ballmer recently sent the video game industry into an uproar when he proclaimed that Microsoft will release a new console in 2010, but Microsoft's director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, Aaron Greenburg told Kotaku that there will be no new console, stating that we're “barely halfway through this generation.”
The Us Army has closed down one of the studios responsible for the free war game and military recruitment tool, America's Army, just as the third title in the series – America's Army 3 – was released. “he consolidation will allow us to gain efficiencies between our public and government applications,” the Us Army said in a statement.
Following the departure of John Pleasants, Electronic Arts has announced that John Schappert has been hired from Microsoft and will assume the role of COO. He will oversee worldwide publishing, the online platform group, EA Interactive, and other division in the company.
“This is a team that is intensely focused on quality and innovation,” Schappert said, “I'm looking forward to rejoining EA as chief operating officer and helping grow the business on new platforms and in new markets.”
This comes on the heels of social gaming publisher, Playdom, announcing that the former EA COO, John Pleasants, as joined the company as CEO. “John's operational expertise and strong industry relationships will be key to scaling the company quickly and forging the right partnerships,” said co-founder and former Playdom CEO Dan Yue.
“I'm thrilled to join Playdom,” said Pleasants, “Online gaming is the fastest growing sector of the gaming industry, and social gaming, in particular, is transforming the way people play and experience games.” He went on to say “Playdom is uniquely well positioned to lead the industry.”
Lucas Arts had a sneak preview of the Secret of Monkey Island: Special edition up on justin.tv this Friday, and it has a neat feature: you can seamlessly switch back and forth between the original game and the new edition.
My first impression of the game is, unfortunately, underwhelming. It suffers from the same problems most games resurrected for nostalgias sake suffer from: an outdated user interface and outdated game play elements with a fancy graphical overhaul.
It's an interesting piece of technology to be sure, but it just doesn't appeal to me.
Here are the upcoming releases for the week of June 21st, 2009:
Fight Night Round 4, Xbox 360 and PS3
Overlord II, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Overlord Minions, DS
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, PSP
The Conduit, Wii
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, PSP, and PS2
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Autobots, DS
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons, DS
Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires, Xbox 360, PS3
Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil, Wii
Pangya: Fantasy Golf, PSP
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, DS
