Daily Recap
Daily Recap: May 12, 2009
May 12th
In a bit of site-related news, today was our most active day ever in terms of unique page views. We can attribute such a solid boost in numbers to Nick’s wonderful review of Peggle for the iPhone (apparently one of the first online, even before the big-name blogs and sites), as it was our top story for the day.
"Awesome!" indeed
So, we want to extend a ginormous gracias to those of you who read Silicon Sasquatch daily and continue to direct your comrades to our corner of the web. We promise to keep bringing you things of a decidedly awesome and videogame-related nature.
Now, it’s time for the real news: Atari gets cold feet, the telenovela that is Midway’s financial woes gets juicier, we get to know Modern Warfare 2 a bit better and Valve’s Team Fortress 2 team takes a “bow.” (You’ll get the pun in a bit.)
Daily Recap: May 11, 2009
May 11th
Our three day extravaganza of Fallout 3 DLC reviews is finally over, capped-off by the best DLC Bethesda has to offer: Broken Steel. We hope you enjoyed the weekend feature and found it to be informative–maybe even life-changing.
But, I’ll be honest here and say I’m completely fine with not playing Fallout 3 in any capacity for a few months.
Please, Vault Boy…no more
Today’s batch of industry news has annoying legal teams crushing fan-made dreams, enough Japanese DS owners for Nintendo to start a conscription-based army, one announced title that no one really is surprised by and a perplexing possible addition to the English language that all gamers love to hate, but also use incessantly. Read the rest of this entry »
Daily Recap: May 7, 2009
May 8th
More earnings statements, game announcements, and a touch of the whimsical. Time for today’s news roundup!
Gunnin' for that #1 spot: Sales of Call of Duty: World at War helped Activision post earnings of nearly $1 billion this past year, the company announced today. Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft were also named as leading Activision-Blizzard franchises.
Just a couple of days ago, Electronic Arts announced its quarterly and yearly financial statement; today, Activision followed that up with its own release, and the returns are very impressive. Activision-Blizzard posted a $981 million net revenue in the first quarter of this year — no, that’s not a yearly figure. That beats the publishing giant’s own projections for the quarter by more than $100 million, and has caused the company to raise its revenue expectations for the 2009 calendar year to $4.3 billion.
“Our better-than-expected first quarter results were driven by strong global consumer response to the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero franchises and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, despite challenging economic times,” Activision CEO Robert Kotick said.
Of course, as happens from time to time, some games that were rumored to exist were confirmed in the financial release. Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, and DJ Hero were all confirmed in the report, and Guitar Hero: Van Halen was made official later in the day. GH5 is a follow up to 2008′s Guitar Hero: World Tour and 2009′s Guitar Hero: Metallica (our review of which is here.) Band Hero is going to be family friendly, and DJ Hero will feature hip-hop, R&B, electronic, techno, and dance music and a turntable peripheral.
Daily Recap: May 6, 2009
May 6th
Goodnight, sweet prince? Duke Nukem developer 3D Realms is going bust, and the company just might take Duke Nukem Forever with it.
Say it ain’t so! In development years, 13 must be an unlucky number for the long-stagnant Duke Nukem Forever (DNF), as Shacknews reports today that developer 3D Realms is closing shop. It seems as if the company has finally run out of money, with the news coming ironically close to the supposed summer release of DNF–which is more than a decade after the title was first announced.
Of course, taking into consideration that DNF is a game that just won’t die, another developer might buy the development rights (as Take Two Interactive confirmed they hold the publishing rights) and finish the title. Regardless of what happens with DNF, the Duke Nukem Trilogy handheld games in development for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are still on, unaffected by 3D Realms’ closure.
Daily Recap: May 5, 2009
May 5th
The millions of Rock Band fans worldwide helped make Harmonix's game the top money earner for Electronic Arts last year, the publishing giant announced today in its financial earnings statement.
We here at the Sasquatch (well, specifically myself and Nick) are very big fans of Harmonix’s Rock Band series. There are a myriad of reasons why, but it boils down to being quite a bit of fun, especially when like-minded individuals coalesce into a full band to rock out.
Well, it turns out we’re not alone in our affections–far from it. Electronic Arts announced its 4th quarter and fiscal year 2009 financial results, and included in the information-rich release is how Rock Band 2 was Electronic Arts’ biggest money-maker for the fiscal year. In fact, Rock Band 1 and 2 were two of 31 properties to sell over a million units last year; FIFA 09, Madden NFL 09, and Need for Speed Underground each sold more than 5 million units worldwide. Even Spore sold 2 million and saw more than 100 million creatures created.
Daily Recap: May 4, 2009
May 4th
Man, it’s May. Soon, it’ll fade into June and true summertime, but today, the weather in Portland has tried very, very hard to look more like the wintertime than anything else. It must have rained over an inch today.
But hey — that’s gaming weather, and it’s time to dish the news for another week. So, without further ado…
Time to fire up Fallout 3 again for the most anticipated DLC for the game yet, Broken Steel, which drops tomorrow.
The third piece of downloadable content for Fallout 3, Broken Steel, is dropping by the time you read this. However, what we have right now is a teaser trailer, which is super spoiler-heavy. You can find it right here on Bethesda’s official site, but again, it’s not suggested for those (like your humble news writer) who haven’t finished the game.
While it is the third chunk of DLC produced for the game, it’s also easily the most anticipated because it opens back up the end of Fallout 3 while adding in new story pieces and locations to explore. Will it be worth it? Look for some Fallout 3 DLC coverage soon.
Daily Recap: April 28, 2009
Apr 28th
Alas, C-3PO; BioWare just doesn’t understand.
Today’s update focuses on BioWare’s controversial stance on homosexuality and the brouhaha that resulted on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums. While the matter has more or less been resolved, the question still remains: How should gender issues be handled in a community-driven online game/gaming setting?
Daily Recap: April 27, 2009
Apr 27th
We’re coming up on the big summer blockbuster season for games, and E3 2009′s looming on the horizon with all the shameless glitz of its heyday, so it’s comforting to have a manageable news trickle. Today’s news deals with a wrestler, some world warriors, a few dozen superheroes and one creative game developer who’s embarking on a personal journey.
Rough-and-tumble actor Mickey Rourke, most recently nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his stellar performance in The Wrestler, is set to star in Rogue Warrior, based roughly on the real-life experiences of Navy SEAL Richard “Demo Dick” Marcinko. Developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Bethesda, the game places the player in Marcinko’s shoes as he investigates a North Korean ballistic missile program and unearths a conspiracy of some sort. Rebellion’s track record is relatively spotty, having been tasked with a number of high-profile game ports and adaptations to platforms like the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, but the potential for a game based on such a hard-hitting true story and portrayed by a talent like Rourke’s is high.
Daily Recap: April 24, 2009
Apr 24th
Oh TGIF, you used to be so great.
Welcome to Friday, dear readers. The weekend is upon us, but that hasn’t stopped a veritible flood of gaming news from materializing today.
What happened? Well: GameFly’s mad at the postal service (not the band, mind you), Final Fantasy XIII is kinda/sorta like Chrono Cross, Hideo Kojima is so like the best person ever, Champions Online has a release date and Midway just might live to develop another day. Full stories after the break, with a delicious Ghostbusters-related treat at the end of the post.
Daily Recap: April 23, 2009
Apr 23rd
Mr. Bubbles would be proud
Considering today’s wealth of BioShock 2 information pouring out from every single videogame-related webpage on the internet, The Silicon Sasquatch is officially renaming April 23 “BioShock Press Day.”
I think we can all expect that future sequels of the franchise will continue to be unveiled on April 23, from now until the end of time — or until BioShock: Big Daddy’s Beach Volleyball Blast 3 comes out and we give up gaming forever.
More news after the break.