50 Cent Talks Blood in the Sand Sequel

If you loved 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand than you might be interested to know that the Southside Queens MC is interested in doing a sequel. Speaking to MTV News, 50 Cent said that fans have reacted strongly to the game and that based on that a sequel might be a good idea.

50 is currently in New York shooting the film “12″ - MTV news caught up with him at a meet and greet for the game at at the Manhattan Play N Trade store.

“[Fans] said it’s a good video game,” he told MTV. “They enjoyed it.

“With the success of this actual project, we’ll try to do it again,” he added.

While 50 Cent might be hoping for a sequel, he doesn’t necessarily want his likeness to appear in the game:

“I’d like to be a part of designing and marketing a video game I’m not actually in,” he explained. “I talked to THQ.”

50 has also been trying to option the film rights to another property: Saint’s Row, though he didn’t have a lot to say about it. He did however note that the longer he negotiates the more it will probably cost him.

While this doesn’t mean a sequel is coming anytime soon it is interesting that he is talking to THQ about the possibility. Whatever happens, we’ll keep you posted.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Released

THQ has shipped 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and early reviews have called it “mindless fun with a great soundtrack.” We’ll have a review soon. The game starring the popular rap star features run-and-gun third person action, co-op so your stupid friends can play (you know who you are), and over 40 songs, including 50 Cent’s greatest hits and an “album’s-worth of never-before-heard tracks.” Learn more about this PS3 and Xbox 360 game by visiting www.50bloodonthesand.com.

So who will the next big star be to cut a game deal? I have a few game titles ready to go after the break:

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Kanye West: Game Designer?

Just when I finally thought the “Anything you can do, I can do better” rivalry between hip-hop artists 50 Cent and Kanye West had finally faded away, it moves to a new battleground … video games. We all know that Fiddy has already broken into the industry with 2005’s 50 Cent: Bulletproof on the PS2 and Xbox. Plus, in a move that left many gamers asking simply “Why?”, 50 Cent is returning to the current generation of consoles with the upcoming release of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. While Fiddy is making his mark starring in video games, Kanye West claims that he’s done one better by designing and programming his own video game … all at the tender age of 12.

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THQ Saves 50 Cent’s Bacon

THQ has acquired the rights to publish 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The sequel to the multi-million unit selling title 50 Cent: Bulletproof, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand was originally under the Vivendi Games banner until Activision bought the company and divested itself of the property - because (I assume) they felt that it would not be very profitable. This was an odd decision because the first game in the series sold millions of copies.

The new game feature the man himself and members of G-Unit who battle their way across two war-torn countries on a mission to collect payment from a crime cartel boss. Okay… Besides this silly back story, the game features run and gun shooter game play, brawler style combat, online co-op and eighteen exclusive new 50 Cent tracks. The game will also feature the voices and likenesses of 50 Cent and G-Unit’s Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and DJ Whoo Kid.

A release date is to be announced.

THQ to Give Gamers ‘50 Cent’

Ever since Activision and Vivendi Games gave birth to Activision Blizzard, gamers have been wondering just what would happen the titles lost in the fallout. Well, for all of you 50 Cent fans out there (both of you), there was some good news coming out of Australia this weekend.

According to a listing at the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand has officially gone through the classification process, being given a rating of MA 15+ on Friday. The game was submitted for classification by THQ Asia Pacific and will be published in the region by THQ.

While Fiddy may have found a new home through THQ, there’s still no official word on any of the other Activision Blizzard casualties, though one can’t help but think it won’t be too much longer before we learn the fate of games like Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend.

Activision Cleans Vivendi Games House

Activision Publishing announced today its plans for much of the Vivendi Games line-up it inherited when it merged with the company earlier this month. First the company confirmed plans to keep some of Vivendi Games’ key franchises including Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro.

The company will also retain two original IPs: Prototype and another “to be announced” title. Activision Publishing will also continue to support The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon - probably because it was too late to dump the franchise at the time of the merger.

However, the real provocative question is what happens to the games the company has not talked about in today’s release: games like Double Fine’s Brutal Legend, the new 50 Cent game, Ghostbusters, and the next Riddick title.

While we wait to hear the fate of those games, Activision says that it is rolling some of its operations into other operations. The company plans to “realign” Prototype developers Radical Entertainment and Bourne developer High Moon Studios into its studio system. The company is also looking closely at
Massive Entertainment (World in Conflict developer) and Swordfish Studios (50 Cent game developer), but is talking about a possible plans to divest both. Finally, Activision is looking closely at Vivendi Games Mobile and Sierra Online, two units it calls “non-strategic,” which it may sell at a later date. That’s four units within the company that it may dump at a at some point for some quick cash, which is very bad news for anyone that works there.

Activision did not disclose whether or not there would be any layoffs at any of these studios in North America. Some European operations have seen a reduction in staff already. More when we have it.

Update: According to Variety’s Cut Scene blog, Activision will be unloading Ghostbusters, Brutal Legend, The Bourne license, and the 50 Cent sequel. One would imagine that the company will shop these projects around to publishers - possibly at a bargain. We’ll see.