This news pretty much blindsided me this morning. I (like many others) assumed that Insomniac (Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, inFamous) was wholly owned by Sony. The deal is only for one game, but I’m pretty sure when it succeeds, they’ll continue making more of them for everyone.
Could the platform exclusive title be an endangered species? Bungie’s (Halo) liberation to Activision and the land of multi-platform releases last month certainly raises some eyebrows. Developers want to own their IPs now and who blames them? Wouldn’t you want to get in on movie-licensing and branded Mountain Dew flavor money? Like in the music industry, once you establish yourself as a bonafied rock star, your dependence on the record labels shrinks to just product manufacturing/distribution.
Personally, I’ve never had a problem with not being able to play a title due to the consoles I’ve owned since I own them all. However, I imagine most people have picked only one of the 360 or PS3. There’s a lot of quality titles that you’re missing out on if this is the case. Having our rockstar titles available on both platforms serves to only benefit the end user. After all, nothing kills a recent video game conversation more than “Have you played God of War 3 yet?” “No, I only have a 360. ” =(
Joystiq’s got an interview with Insomniac’s CEO, Ted Price, if you want to read more.
EA’s looking to get into the fantasy sports market with the upcoming NFL season. The company’s advantage in the crowded fantasy sports marketplace is their ability to integrate functionality with game consoles.
And integrate they shall!
Although pricing has been unannounced, EA will be selling software on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network for users to follow their fantasy football teams. (the web-based game will be free)
The main three advantages for the game console applications are:
- Life drafting on the big screen if you have a local draft party – the game will upload the results to the web
- Easy import of your fantasy team into Madden 09
- Live scoring/team tracking
None of these features are revolutionary, but if the price is right it could be worth it if you have everyone over for a draft party. Importing your team into Madden should be possible to do manually and the live scoring is nice, but having to constantly flip from your console input to the TV input is going to be slightly annoying – I’d rather just have a laptop or iPhone nearby.
EA’s biggest hurdle is going to be convincing existing players/leagues to relocate from ESPN/Yahoo/Sportsline/etc. to the EA servers. With the main draw of the product essentially being a TV-output of the draft, I’m not so sure people make the leap.
View some more screenshots [easports.com]
When I heard that EA and Steven Spielberg were “teaming up” to create a video game, I have to admit that the announcement didn’t exactly get my panties wet. Though Spielberg is one of the great movie directors of our time, he has never been involved with the production of a video game. On top of that, Spielberg’s credited role as “Creative Director” is suspiciously nebulous.
Regardless of Stevie’s role in the game’s production, the fact remains that Boom Blox is actually a surprisingly fun game. Though it’s a puzzle game designed for the whole family/casual players, even hardcore gamers can extract some kind of enjoyment from it. EA LA have managed to develop some of the tightest motion controls seen on a Wii game. It’s safe to say Boom Blox would not have been possible on any other gaming platform at this time.
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I’m always skeptical when I see a game published by EA nowadays, but Mirror’s Edge looks like it has some promise. It’s a first-person game that is heavily influenced by parkour. The game deemphasizes shooting and focuses more on getting from one point to another in the quickest way possible.
So basically it’s a first person Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Or the freerunning parts of Assassin’s Creed, presumably with more platforming skills involved.
First-person platforming has always been frustratingly terrible, but if EA can pull this off right, it might have a sleeper hit on its hands.
Read the Shacknews preview [shacknews.com]
After watching the above playthrough of Steven Spielberg’s Boom Blox on Wiitalia, I gotta admit the game actually looks pretty fun. The single player puzzle mode looks like a blast, while the multiplayer reminds me of both Jenga and a bizzaro world version of Jenga (where you want to knock all the blocks in a tower down). A good physics model looks to be implemented as well.
Sure, it’s a little questionable as to how much real involvement the vaunted director had on the game ‘s development, but if it gets more people to check out a good puzzler then so be it.
As to whether I would plunk down a full retail $50 for this Wii game at launch? Eh… I’d have to think about that one. If it were priced as an XBLA or PSN game at $10-$15, I’d be more than willing to give it a shot sight unseen.
