Crispy Gamer News

You remember what they say about real estate? It’s all about three things: Location. Location. Location. That’s the first thing that came to mind when we got word today that Codemasters had reached a deal with Activision Blizzard to buy UK-based developer, Swordfish Studios. If you’ve got that odd sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone. Earlier this week, we reported that developer Monumental Games had also acquired Swordfish from Activision Blizzard. No, this isn’t a case of double dipping, and yes, both news bites are correct … it’s just a matter of location.
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Video game developer Vicious Cycle announced today that the company has entered into a partnership agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to provide its Vicious Engine middleware solution to game developers in India. Meant to help with SCEE’s ongoing strategy to build an audience for the PSP and PS2 in the region, the companies will make the Vicious Engine tools available for both platforms to further promote game development in South Asia.

“We looked for an all-inclusive game engine that provided flexibility and a rapid development cycle,” said Jim Ryan, COO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. “The Vicious Engine is both intuitive and easy-to-use, an excellent choice for our program in India.”
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Midway will nearly double its projected loss for the third quarter, based on the “cancellation of future versions of related game properties and associated development expenditures,” the company revealed today. While Midway did not name names in its release this morning, but it did say that its previously projected loss of $0.49 per basic and diluted share would rise to $0.70 per share on a non-GAAP basis (which includes approximately $0.10 of non-cash convertible debt interest expense).

“The resolution of these licensing arrangements on good terms for the company is a very positive step as we continue to review Midway’s involvement with underperforming projects and focus on our core properties,” said Matt Booty, interim CEO and president. “Our fall lineup and strong pipeline of games that tie in to market-leading licenses like DC Comics and TNA Wrestling underscore our strategy of aligning with consumer and entertainment properties that can drive a solid gaming experience.”

Electronic Arts has opened a new studio in Austin, Texas to develop games for its popular casual online game portal, Pogo.com. The new studio, Pogo Austin, will focus on creating family-friendly casual titles based on Hasbro properties. The initial team of 12 features a strong foundation of Austin natives who boast more than 108 years of collective game experience and have shipped titles at companies such as LucasArts, Aspyr Media, Acclaim, Amaze Entertainment, Human Code, Origin Systems and Family Time Interactive.

The first title to be released from Pogo Austin is PICTUREKA! MUSEUM MAYHEM. a “quirky seek and find game” based on the Hasbro game of the same name. In the digital version, a player becomes the new curator for a museum and investigates some odd things that are afoot. The game is set to launch online in November at Pogo.com for $19.95 (US) and GBP11.95 (UK); it will be available at retail in early winter.

THQ announced late last night plans to reorganize the company’s product development management team. The company said that this move is in support of its “continued focus on improving quality, predictability and profitability across the company’s product portfolio.” With the reorganization comes three key promotions and the departure of Jack Sorensen, executive vice president of worldwide studios.

Meanwhile Roy Tessler has been promoted to senior vice president of production and worldwide studios, Danny Bilson has been promoted to senior vice president of creative development and Steve DeCosta has been promoted to senior vice president of product development finance and administration. All three will report directly to THQ CEO Brian Farrell.

Tessler will oversee production across THQ’s product portfolio including direct oversight of THQ’s internal studios. Bilson and his team will continue to lead THQ’s creative direction, with a keen focus on THQ’s owned intellectual properties. Finally DeCosta will continue to oversee project forecasting and cost management across the product development organization.

On the departure of Jack Sorensen, Brian Farrell made the following comment: “Jack Sorensen has played an important role in building out THQ’s studio system and has been a key contributor to THQ’s success over the past seven years. We appreciate his service to the company and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

One would assume Sorenson’s departure was amicable.

According to the GamerScore Blog, Lionhead is taking some extra time to tweak the online -co-op play for Fable II. Considering how awesome this feature looked at E3 it is a little disconcerting that the company is still tweaking it at this late date.

Why disconcerting? Because when the game ships on October 21 online co-op play will not be playable. Yes, you read that right. Online Co-op won’t be playable out of the box. You will be able single player and local co-op on day one, if that’s any consolation. You will also be able to see your friends as glowing orbs, which will allow you to chat and trade with them.

The post from Xbox Live insider DirtyDiva goes on to say “as a gamer I’m glad they’re taking the time to make it right instead of just rushing it out the door. ”

Oh yeah, I’m glad that Lionhead and Microsoft sent a game to manufacturing that obviously wasn’t done. Lionhead expects to get the update that enables online co-op out within the first week of launch in North America and at unspecified dates in other regions.

Source: GamerScore Blog.

EA’s Spore team is doing something unprecedented: letting the public play with prototypes used to develop (and explore) components of the game. So what is the definition of a prototype? According to the Spore community site they are stand alone programs that help explore design directions in gameplay, simulation and user interface.

Two of these prototypes are available for fun at the Spore Community site: BIOME and ParticleMan. BIOME is a simulator that allows users to develop simple SimCity style grid simulations, while ParticleMan is a simulates gravitational attraction between particles in a cloud.

you can download both from the community site, and get a lot more background information on both.