Gamernode: Latest Industry News

Study says guys are drawn to video games. Duh.

Sometimes, I really have to wonder what the world of academia really does with its time. We have tons of studies that seem to point to the obvious. Here's another one for you.

According to Stanford Professor Allan Reiss, in a paper published by the Journal of Psychiatric Research, he found out that guys are naturally drawn to video games. The study was conducted on males who played video games while their brain activity was monitored.

Excuse us for giving a collective "yawn."

Reiss says, "The males were just a lot more motivated to succeed. I think it's fair to say that males tend to be more intrinsically territorial. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who historically are the conquerors and tyrants of our species."

And we might add, it doesn't take a genius, or a study for that matter, t...

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Teenager gets highest score for Guitar Hero III

Last week a 13 year-old boy was inducted into the Guinness World Record book by trouncing the all time high score in Guitar Hero III by over 10,000 points. His final score was 890,971.

Not impressed? He did it while playing "Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragonforce on the expert level. Still not impressed? He did it on his first try.

Daniel Johnson of Dallas, Texas said, "I'm glad that I had the opportunity to break the record and help people learn about Education is Freedom."

He broke the record in a Guitar Hero 24-hour marathon sponsored by Blockbuster Video. The event was held to benefit the non-profit organization; Education is Freedom, which is dedicated to increasing the educational quality for children in Dallas.

The old record, held by Chris Chike, was 880,920 points in March 2008...

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Tim Schafer releases a sequel...to himself!

The biggest sequel of this console generation was released yesterday, May 21st. Titled Mary Schafer and weighing in at a healthy 7 lbs 10 oz, this one is sure to have a monumental impact on the gaming world.

Industry veteran and Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer has created this brand new, original IP with the help of but a single other dev team member, Rachael Schafer, and they describe the product of their efforts as being both "Excellent" and "CUTE."

Details are scant, but this journalist thinks that we may be seeing the beginnings of a franchise here. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled here at GN and will report any new developments in this groundbreaking story.

[via Double Fine]

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EA bashes Activision/Vivendi for ESA departure

EA, the righteous company that it is, had a few choice words for Activision/Vivendi, who left the Entertainment Software Association. Let the offensive attack begin!

EA's Vice President of Corporate Communication, Jeff Brown, said that it was despicable how Activision/Vivendi left the ESA. "They're a big company and we feel that when you're a big company you've got a responsibility to consumers to work on policy issues which are very, very important to consumers," Brown stated. He added that the best way to do this is trough an industry consensus.

EA also contacted the ESA and implored them to contain current members and assure that they remain a part of the ESA, and stressed that they themselves have no intentions of leaving. With LucasArts leaving, however, other companies may consider...

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Square Enix looking into merger

Seems these days more and more game companies are partnering up--the consolidation market is still alive in the game industry. If it isn't the merger of Activision and Blizzard, it is EA's attempt to take over Take-Two. Heck, even Microsoft and Yahoo are trying to partner up these days.

To some it may seem like a squandering of creativity, and others don't like the big company image. But think of the positives. By combining resources, in a merger, both companies now have access to a wealth of resources. The teams behind the games we love now have a whole new bank of tools and talent to dip into.

So it makes sense to hear a certain Japanese company wants to venture into this consolidation market. That company is Square Enix. Not a stranger to consolidation Square Enix used to be Squaresoft a...

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The Ballad of EA and T2: denouement

When the story of Electronic Arts wanting to buy Take Two Interactive first broke a couple of months ago I made a really sweet graphic of Pac Man eating a blue ghost. Pac Man being EA and the frightened powerless blue ghost being Take Two. It was genius I say, sheer genius.

Unfortunately it seems I won't be using that image, not anytime soon in any case. Friday was the deadline for Take Two shareholders to agree to a buyout from the game publisher everyone loves to hate and Friday passed without any acknowledgment of that offer from Take Two. It seems people want to hold onto stock of companies that just released the fastest selling game of all time, go figure.This doesn't mean EA is going to give up. This morning they announced an extension of the offer until June 16th even though Tak...

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Are games getting shorter?

According to Gregg Mayles, head of design at Rare, games are now decreasing in size because, quite frankly, gamers do not want to be bothered with lengthy games.

Rare, the creator of Banjo Kazooie and others, would be expected to at least defend extended games given some of their titles' playing times, but Mayles simply stated that "...people are now less tolerant of really, really long games."  He went on to say that "if you're going to have a really long game it has to be structured in such a way that the majority of the players play the game up to a certain point and are happy with it, but that section is shorter and then make sure the tail-end of the game suits the people that want to carry on." 

According to Mayles, developers should shorten their games in length in order to appease ga...

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CBS moves to buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion

CBS has announced that it will buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion. CNET is the parent of the websites GameSpot, TV.com, CNET News, ZDNet, CNET, UrbanBaby, Search.com and BNET.

The deal would move CBS into the top 10 most frequently visited Internet destinations in the US. With the merger of CBS and CNET, Gamespot may possibly reap the rewards of CBS Network's extensive infrastructure of news stations and outlets. 

Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Corporation said, "CBS stands for premium content and unparalleled reach, and CNET Networks will add a tremendous platform to extend our complementary entertainment, news, sports, music and information content to a whole new global audience."

The Board of Directors at CNET Networks approved the deal and have recommended that CNET shareholder...

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Kojima talks casual games, world panics

It's great when games designers can be objective in viewing the state of the industry, and don't just think it's all about their game or genre. Hideo Kojima, for example, makes games for gamers; you're grandmother isn't going to play Zone of the Enders or Metal Gear Solid. But despite this affinity for making games that suit the hardcore, he acknowledges the casual space and doesn't hate on it.

"Casual games have become mainstream in the industry. It's not just a Japanese phenomenon but also something that's happening worldwide. There are new markets and possibilities opening up thanks to the trend, which is great."

Now, you might be a little afraid at this point. Wondering if Mr. Kojima was thinking of alienating the community by making Metal Gear Island: Party Game Sensation for the Wii...

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Activision stealing the Band out of Rock Band

When Harmonix left the Guitar Hero business and got scooped up by MTV games it was kind of a big deal. They sold the rights of their franchise to Activision and decided to pursue other interests. Perhaps you've heard of Rock Band.

Activision had been content with owning the Guitar Hero franchise, even though the brains behind it were gone. Guitar Hero III sold record numbers this holiday season and was one of the best selling titles of last year. It seems, however, Rock Band has been picking up some steam. They have sold over 2 million songs via DLC and keep selling tons of copies of the game at the retail level.

It seems Activision wants in on some of that whole band money. According to the upcoming Game Informer, and a commenter on NeoGaf, Guitar Hero 4 will include vocals and drums...

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Next next-gen systems to hit in 2010?

Now that we can officially call the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii current-gen, eager gamers are no doubt wondering when the next line of consoles will hit. (To me it's amazing some people are already thinking this far ahead.)

What's interesting are the predictions of when we will see these consoles, and more importantly who will launch first.

Evan Wilson, an analyst of Pacific West Securities, decided to take a stab at predicting when the next wave of consoles will appear in an article earlier this year, and his opinion will obviously be debatable among the fanboys of each respected crowd.

Wilson believes we'll actually see the next wave of consoles arriving around 2010, with Nintendo's hitting the stores first, and Microsoft launching a few months after Nintendo. Sony's fate is harder t...

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EA secures $1 billion to acquire Take-Two

Late last week, Electronic Arts announced they've secured an additional $1 billion for continual efforts to buyout publisher Take-Two Interactive. The months are ticking down because EA only has till January 2009 to make the acquisition happen.

EA said that "approximately $2.1 billion would be required to purchase all Shares pursuant to the Offer and the Merger and to pay related fees and expenses," in a recent financial filing statement.

Back in February, EA tried and failed to buyout Take-Two Interactive with $2 billion. Despite being rejected, EA remained keen on acquiring the publisher with many analysts and critics citing the bidding move as aggressive and hostile.

With the immense success of GTA IV, which sold 6 million copies earning $500 million in its first week of release, Take-Two ...

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Top Spin 3. The details and the goodies

I was able to join in on a conference call with Anthony DeLuca, producer for Top Spin 3 this week along with other gaming journalists. We picked Anthony's brain about the new upcoming tennis title and got a feel for what this new version is all about.

DeLuca said this latest edition was his favorite. "We're most proud of Top Spin 3. We wanted to bring it up a notch instead of the game being a back and forth version of "Pong"...[in other words] more realistic control in the game. It has something for everybody...hardcore and beginner."

I asked about unlockables and special content and it looks like there will be a ton of them to keep virtual tennis fans out there occupied. Some of the things you can expect to see are special equipment, clothing, animations, brands, racquets, shoes and "lots o...

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Surfer Girl -- Exit stage right

Within the game industry there is a person whose presence has been usually tolerated or looked up to, depending on your viewpoint. Longtime blogger and rumor rat, SurferGirl, has given her share of tips, gossip and viewpoints about the game industry for a while but has evidently called it quits according to her last blog.

The site Surfer Girl Reviewed Star Wars, was an insider source of information and commentary on the world of video gaming. Her views and style--both appreciated and criticized by the gaming community, was none-the-less, a favorite of game journalists.

In her last post she exited the world of video game blogging in what some would say, by sounding just a bit bitter about the state of games, as she referred to a video she posted to explain her feelings.

What I'm saying above ...

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Another videogame movie to ignore: Street Fighter

I don't trust videogame movies and there are more than a few examples not to. So when news breaks about the new Street Fighter movie, titled Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, I usually ignore it. But it is my duty to report my findings on the internet, so I will indulge you this time readers... this time.

Justin Marks the writer of such classic films as Unbroken and Fast Forward recently discussed why Chun-Li (played by Kristen Kreuk) was the focus and made a point to say "I've never seen a successful action movie (in my mind) that blatantly sexualised [sic] its female lead and succeeded for its audience; Catwoman, Elektra, the list goes on and on."

"Then I think back to The Terminator, or possibly my all-time favourite movie, Aliens, and I think of how Ripley is depicted in that film...

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Activision's Q4 financial results rivals EA

With Activision's fiscal fourth quarter financial results released, the video game publisher now rivals Electronic Arts as the world's largest video game publisher. For the quarter that ended on March 31st, Activision reported a net income of $44.2 million, which is certainly a jump from a loss of $14.4 million during the same period last year.

Net revenue for the company jumped 93% to $602.5 million, which exceeded the company's own guidance of $350 million. The increased revenue and profit are attributed to excellent sales of Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4.

In a few weeks, Activision will merge with Vivendi SA to form a new publisher called Activision Blizzard. The deal is worth $18.9 billion; once the deal is completed, the publisher will certainly rival Electronic Arts for dominance ...

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Today's article is brought to you by the number 10...

It has long been known that I don't agree with the numbered review system. I stand by the Penny Arcade method of asking (or reading the input of) people who have similar tastes as you if you should play a specific game. I frequently get asked how was "insert game title". And I'll either say, "it was great you should play it," or "it wasn't so good," and then recommend something similar.

Stephen Totilo is leading a fantastic discussion on the "10" review score. He notes that 4 of the 12 highest rated games ever (according to Gamerankings.com) have been released in the past 10 months. Doesn't that seem a little strange? I personally agree with Stephen Totilo and don't think we've reached some golden era of games but that reviewers are more easily impressed.

"Our vocabularies and scoring ...

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Half as many kids purchasing M-rated games in 2008...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just published the results of a study that shows a 22% decrease in underage purchases of M-rated videogames in 2008. With the recent release of everyone's favorite whipping boy, Grand Theft Auto 4, videogames have been under particularly heavy fire from the mainstream media as of late, so this report comes as great news for the industry.

Only 20% of the FTC's secret shoppers were successful in purchasing M-rated games this year, compared to 42% in 2006, and 69% in 2003. Of all of the retailers surveyed, Game Stop/EB Games performed best, turning away a praiseworthy 94% of shoppers. Walmart stopped 82% from making purchases, followed by Best Buy with an 80% rejection rate.                                                   ...

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Take-Two sues CTA for GTA ad pulls

Some of you may remember the issue involving GTAIV advertisements in Chicago buses, and how CTA ultimately pulled them due to a Fox report. Well, Take-Two is now taking some action against the unwarranted hatred of the GTA franchise. They are now filing a lawsuit against CTA. 

The issue initially came up a few weeks ago, when Fox broadcasted one of its usual one-sided, anti-game stories about how the CTA was allowing advertisements for the "unapologetically violent" GTAIV video game. The story stirred up so much controversy that, in the end, the CTA pulled the ads to gain back the support they lost when viewers were swayed in favor of Fox.

Now Take-Two is angry. Angry enough, in fact, to file a lawsuit. They claim that the CTA broke an ad agreement amounting to $300,000, violated free s...

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GTA IV is glitch free according to Take-Two chairm...

When asked if GTA IV had any bugs or not, the chairman of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick replied "No, none whatsoever. I'd say the only issue is that someone came up to me yesterday in a restaurant and said ‘my thumbs are hurting from the weekend.'"

Okay, hold the phone here. Is this guy nuts or is this some kind of joke? Has he somehow not heard of all the crashes, freezes, graphical bugs, and other glitches? Maybe he was speaking for himself but if that's the case, then he should really work on his wording. The jokes just write themselves, folks.

But of course, Zelnick could have just been playing it cute by saying something so outrageous. If that was his intent, he's got a pretty good sense of humor in trying to shake things up a bit. But if he was serious, I'd hate to think what he woul...

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