Weinstein Company gets into the game business

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

Famous film brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein have announced that their company, the creatively named The Weinstein Company, has started a video game division. The equally creatively named TWC Games will tap into the back catalog of The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films to develop and publish video games for mobile, social, and console platforms. Among the Weinstein/Dimension films that could get the game treatment are Scream, Hellraiser, Halloween and Children of the Corn.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if TWC Games teamed up with Freddy and Jason rightsholder Warner Bros. to create the ultimate slasher movie fighting game of Ghostface vs Pinhead vs Michael Myers vs “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” vs Freddy Kruegger vs Jason Voorhees? Considering the fact that Warner Bros. also owns Mortal Kombat maker NetherRealm Studios, it’s practically fate.

TWC Games will be working with Beefy Media, who has worked with Capcom in the past on a ton of projects, to bring their video game dreams to fruition. The consulting company will work with TWC Games to “foster relationships with publishers and create high quality games.”

Bob Weinstein, The Weinstein Company’s co-chairman, is thrilled about the announcement: “The video game marketplace is changing at such a rapid rate. With all of the digital platforms, there are so many opportunities to broaden our audience with compelling, high quality, cost-efficient, video game entertainment.”

Seriously, someone needs to convince Bob and Harvey to make that monster crossover happen.

Posted in 3DS, DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360 |

THQ’s Homefront is a hit

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

THQ’s take on a Korean invasion of America in the 2027 has proven to be a hit with gamers across the globe. Described by company executives as one of the biggest games they’ve ever done, Homefront has now sold one million copies worldwide. THQ has also revealed that they’ve shipped 2.4 million copies of Homefront to stores since its release two weeks ago. So there’s plenty of copies out there if you want to become Homefront player #1,000,001.

“We are very pleased with strong worldwide shipments and sell-through for Homefront, and we continue to fulfill new retail orders for the game across the globe,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. “Homefront is clearly resonating with gamers and we are certainly pleased with our initial sales results.”

Even before Homefront was released, THQ hinted that a sequel was in the planning stages. With the game crossing the million-seller mark already, expect to hear an announcement of Homefront: London any time now.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Gameloft jumps on the 3DS bandwagon

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Although many 3DS customers may have heard of Asphalt 3D – a 3DS launch title, what they may not know is that Asphalt 3D was developed by Gameloft, the New York City-based developer/publisher who has already delivered a slew of games to iOS and other platforms. Gameloft is responsible for titles including Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, and Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden – iOS games that are eerily similar to the Call of Duty and Zelda franchises, respectively.

In addition to continuing development for iOS and other ventures, Gameloft recently stated that they plan to take part in developing downloadable games exclusively for Nintendo’s upcoming handheld. The 3DS’ eShop won’t launch until this summer, but Gameloft has assured that many of their titles will feature the 3DS’ StreetPass function, allowing players to compare their scores and stats with passers-by.

The first title to arrive on the 3DS’ eShop will be Let’s Golf! 2, available in the coming months. I’ve got a lurking feeling that we’ll soon see a Gameloft title featuring an overweight electrician who eats broccoli to power up, and is saving a princess from a giant alligator.

Posted in 3DS, News |

Daily Scoop: March 25, 2011 – 3DS launch: engage!

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Nicole Kline

The 3DS launches this Sunday, which is pretty exciting! I’m looking forward to finally being able to play with one that isn’t attached to either some sort of mounted table, or a hot chick walking around with a giant battery pack on her back. Wait, actually, is there a model of the 3DS that comes with a hot chick? Nintendo should really consider that.

Anyway, speaking of Amazon, if you pre-order your 3DS there, or if you’ve already pre-ordered it there, you’ll be getting a $25 promotional credit towards a 3DS game from this list. They’re also running an additional deal in which you get a $10 promotional credit towards another 3DS game when you buy a 3DS game. Potentially, it’s some good savings on games that are $39.99. Realistically, I don’t know if I want more than one of those games, and I hope those promotional credits will work towards games I actually want to buy later, whenever the games worthy of buying actually come out. Thanks anyway, guys!

Today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is Maximum Family Games’s Sniper Elite for the Wii. It’s $19.99 down from $39.99, and promises “specialized sniper technique training.” According to customer Chris J, it’s an “Excellent Game!” and worthy of five stars. So if you trust him, you should drop those 20 clams right now.

For the t-shirt crowd, Tee Fury satiates your need today:

My initial reaction was that it was supposed to be a mash-up of Wario as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but apparently it’s Wario as a Gangs of New York member. I like my idea better.

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Guitar Hero III tops biggest moneymakers list

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

Guitar Hero may be dead (for now at least), but the franchise has certainly left its mark on the gaming world. In a report released by The NPD Group yesterday, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was crowned the king of all video games… in terms of total sales dollars that is. The music game has brought $830.9 million into Activision’s coffers, no doubt thanks to the expensive guitar bundle you see above.

Activision can also lay claim to the number two game on the list, Call of Duty: Black Ops (even though gamers have bought more copies of CODBLOPS than any other game ever). All told, the publisher snapped up half of the spots in the top ten.

But when it comes to printing money, the only other name that comes to mind is Nintendo. The consolemaker has four games in the top ten: both versions of Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. The only non-Activision/Nintendo title in the top ten was MTV Games’ Rock Band.

Interestingly, no game on the list was released before 2007, but CNBC pointed out that the list may not be entirely accurate as Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 18 million copies back in 1990 (before The NPD Group started tracking game sales). Originally retailing for $50, the game’s $900 million dollar tally would surpass every other game on the list.

Hit the jump for the full top ten.

Press Start to Continue →

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Capcom continues outsourcing – Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City announced

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Over the last few years, Keiji Inafune vehemently demanded that Japanese game developers blindly imitate what Western developers are doing, so they can make the money. A few months ago, he left Capcom. I can’t tell if it’s because of his demands, or because all their key game directors keep leaving, but Capcom seems intent on giving away all of its classic franchises to their friends in the West.

The world was shocked, absolutely shocked, as Capcom handed the reigns of Devil May Cry over to Ninja Theory when they unveiled their hideous, regurgitation-inducing (at least to DMC fans) makeover of protagonist Dante. Now, Official Xbox Magazine has confirmed that the next title in Capcom’s premier survival horror franchise, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is underway at Slant Six Studios for the PlayStation 3 and (of course) Xbox 360. Slant Six just did a stint with PlayStation’s SOCOM franchise, working on last year’s SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 (which was awesome) and SOCOM: Confrontation before that (which wasn’t so awesome). Stick Skills has tons of bullet points about the game on its site, and you can get even tons more from OXM. If you’re wondering what a western dev is going to do to this franchise, I believe this quote will satisfy your curiosity:

This is not a one-versus-one game where you’ve got one clip full of ammo and zombies on you. If you’ve ever thought of those times in an RE game when you thought, ‘I’d wish I had a big gun’, that’s what this game is.

There you have it. I’ll be sure to let you all know when Phoenix Wright: Space Marine is announced for the Xbox 360.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Lead and Gold on Steam gets free to play weekend, patch, DLC, and massive sale

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If you missed out on last year’s excellent class-based, wild west multiplayer shooter, now’s a great time to get into Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West, particularly on Steam. The game is now 75% off and you can play without paying for it as part of this free to play weekend. The new Appendoah Valley – The Crops of Wrath map makes its debut in versus. Like the PS3 version got earlier this month, the game has been patched for numerous bugs on Steam.

Posted in News, PC |

Portal 2 Interview: Valve Talks New Characters, 2 Campaigns, and… *Spoiler Deleted*

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Valve had another one of their awesome theatre-style booths at this year’s PAX East. Outside, they had demos of Portal 2 running and were giving out t-shirts; inside, they were giving fans insight into two new characters in the single-player part of the game and giving me more spoilers than I wanted to see. But as faithful journalists, News Editor Mike Gutierrez and I were determined to bring the information back home and deliver it to our readers. Afterwards, we were able to interview one of the game’s writers, Erik Wolpaw, who left me wishing April 19th was tomorrow.

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Posted in Features, Interviews, PC, Previews, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,