SouthPeak Acquires Gamecock Media

Coming virtually out of nowhere this morning, software publisher SouthPeak Interactive, today announced that it has officially completed acquisition of Austin-based publisher Gamecock Media Group.

Gamecock, known as much for its PR stunts (rushing the Spike Video Game Awards stage and putting on a mock funeral for E3) as it is for its games, has published such titles as Dementium: The Ward for the DS, Insecticide on the DS and PC, and most recently Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball on Xbox LIVE Arcade. SouthPeak, meanwhile, is probably best known to gamers for Two Worlds and the upcoming DS release Ninjatown.

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Spark Lets Legendary Achievements Out of the Box

Later this month, gamers will literally open a Pandora’s Box of action when Sparks Unlimited and Gamecock release their upcoming FPS title Legendary to the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. The game puts gamers in the role of thief Charles Decker, who unknowingly lets himself get suckered into opening the real Pandora’s Box, unleashing all sorts of strange forces and mythological creatures on an unsuspecting world. Making matters worse, Decker gets branded by the Box, and becomes the only person capable of resealing the box and trapping the creatures inside once again.

In an effort to whet gamers’ appetites leading up to the game’s release on October 21st, Spark Unlimited has released a complete list of Achievements available in Legendary. There are 50 total Achievements, totaling 1000 points in all. The Achievements include:

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Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball Coming to Wii

Blazing Lizard’s Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball will also be released on the Wii this winter, publisher Gamecock Media announced today. The game uses the schoolyard to answer the age old question: Who’d be better in a fight - pirates or ninjas? The title features two ancient rivals, ninjas and pirates, along with several other teams, all looking to settle the score once and for all – on the dodgeball court.

The game allows for up to eight players to take part in the action and offers a total of seven teams, including pirates, ninjas, robots and zombies plus three unannounced teams. Each team utilizes its own unique techniques and strategies. Unique to Wii version, the game will offer all-new story and challenge modes, along with several customized control schemes.

Look for it in time for the holidays.

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball Dated

Publisher Gamecock says that Blazing Lizard’s Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball game will make its way onto Xbox Live Arcade on September 3rd. Gamecock also provided an update on the game what the folks at Blazing Lizard have been adding to the game in the last few months.

Those features include the option to have more than one ball in play; in single player, choose to have from 1 to 5 balls, while multiplayer ball count is decided based on the size of the teams. The game will also provide a traditional Dodgeball mode, which limits the use of special moves and forces players to stay on their side of the court. An enhanced Dodgeball mode has been added as well, offering looser and faster rules.

Finally, players can choose from 4 teams - Pirates, Ninjas, Zombies and Robots. Teams will consist of up to 4 players, each with a unique special move, back-story and personality. Players can also get close to opponents and use combat moves.

Look for the game to invade Xbox Live Arcade in early September.

Dissenting Opinion: Let Them Talk

If you didn’t happen to agree with Crispy Gamer’s pre-E3 feature, The 10 People We Hope Will Shut the F*** Up at This Year’s E3, then you might want to check out N’Gai Croal’s rebuttal, Let Them Talk.

In this editorial at Edge Online, Level Up’s N’Gai goes over the reasons why all of the industry heavyweights we mentioned in our article should never shut up. He also raises some interesting points on why developers can never jump into a public discussion and play the role of the “regular guy,” despite actually being regular guys (Dennis Dyack can tell you some war stories about that for sure). Here’s a sample from the article:

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Gamecock, GameTap Sign Deal

Gamecock Media Group has signed a new partnership with GameTap, giving the game portal rights to the publisher’s titles for digital download in GameTap’s online store, as well as for subscription and ad-supported play. As part of the new agreement, future titles, such as Legendary and Velvet Assassin will also be available on GameTap. All games will be added GameTap’s online digital retail storefront at launch and later added to the subscription service and ad-supported website. Current titles like Stronghold Crusader Extreme and Insecticide will be available almost immediatly.

Gamecock Takes Roost in UK

Love ”em or hate ”em, there’’s no denying that Gamecock Media Group has made a name for itself in the short time since its launch as a publisher. Now, the company is spreading its wings into the European market by appointing former marketing manager of Take-Two, Sarah Seaby, and former vice president of Gathering of Developers, Graeme Struthers, to set up a new roost overseas in London.

Next up for Gamecock? Well, without any awards shows to crash, the company will instead be heading out to the Lone Star State, holding its 2nd Annual Expo for Interactive Entertainment, Independent and Original (EIEIO) on March 6 at the Stubb’’s Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas. The all-day event will lead into the popular South by Southwest’’s (SXSW) Interactive Festival and culminate in a concert which hopes to feature bands with members of the gaming press in them.