Activision wants to close Bizarre Creations

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision has spent the last three months looking for a buyer for British development team Bizarre Creations. Yesterday, with no buyer in sight, the publisher told Develop that they’ve recommended the studio for closure. And Bizarre has responded that they’ve accepted this decision.

The future of the Bizarre team is rather murky at this point, but Coddy Johnson, Activision Worldwide Studios’ chief operating officer said, “We’re offering the studio as many resources as possible, including counselling, external placement services and external career fairs.”

Bizarre released two games in 2010 that underperformed their rather lofty expectations. Blur was pitched as “Mario Kart for adults,” but most adults indicated that they’d rather play Mario Kart. And November’s James Bond 007: Blood Stone was overshadowed by last year’s other Bond game, a remake of GoldenEye 007.

Everyone here at Warp Zoned hopes the people at Bizarre land on their feet soon.

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The Smurfs smurf their way onto the Wii, DS this Summer

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

A film adaptation of The Smurfs will be released in theaters on August 3, and Ubisoft has announced that the blue creatures will smurf their way onto the Wii and DS around the same time as well.

Nothing else was announced about the game, but executives at Ubisoft are absolutely thrilled to be working on a Smurfs game (the game’s unnamed developers didn’t mention what they thought of the deal):

“We’re thrilled to be working with Lafig Belgium and Sony Pictures on the Smurfs license. Our ongoing partnership with Sony Pictures Consumer Products allows us to create fun and entertaining video games based on some of the most popular family films,” said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft. “Ubisoft’s creative team is working hard on crafting the perfect video game experience that will appeal to new and old fans of The Smurfs.”

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Rumor: Infinity Ward & Sledgehammer team up for Modern Warfare 3

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

A report on the LA Times blog “Company Man” claims to have a few details on the next Call of Duty game. Citing “people familiar with the situation,” the blog reveals that Activision will release the Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 this November.

But it appears that Infinity Ward wasn’t able to complete the game on their own.

The LA Times article states that due to the defection of company founders Jason West and Vince Zampella (along with the majority of the IW staff) Activision had to call in the team from the newly-formed Sledgehammer Games. The megapublisher also had to call on Raven Software to help with the multiplayer portion. Although this part of the tale was more-or-less confirmed by a job opening at Raven a few weeks ago.

This shifting of resources has seemingly caused a “domino effect” among Activision’s internal studios. The newspaper claims that Sledgehammer has had to postpone their Call of Duty spin-off that was previously scheduled for a 2011 release.

It all sounds plausible enough, but we won’t know for sure until Activision officially announces the title and developer of the next Call of Duty game, which will definitely be released this November.

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How To Make the Perfect Sonic the Hedgehog Game

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Now that Sega has announced a 20th anniversary celebration for Sonic the Hedgehog, 2011 may well prove to be an important year for their spiky blue mascot (we’ll likely get a new game out of it at least). But despite Sega’s best efforts, every gamer – casual or otherwise – knows that there hasn’t been a good Sonic the Hedgehog game made since 1994; Sonic 4 may carry on the series, but the first episode still didn’t feel perfectly right.

Press Start to Continue →

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Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy coming March 22

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

The title of Dissidia 012 [duodecim]: Final Fantasy has been giving gamers the fits ever since it was announced. But now we finally know when we’ll get to play it as Square Enix has revealed the PSP fighter will be released on March 22.

The prequel will feature the return of every character from Dissidia: Final Fantasy along with new characters Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII), Kain (Final Fantasy IV) and Tifa (Final Fantasy VII). Square Enix has promised that “many other new faces” will also make an appearance in Dissidia 012, possibly in the game’s new “Assist” feature.

Among the characters we already know about, many of them will be voiced by some familiar names as the cast includes Rachael Leigh Cook as Tifa, Keith David as Chaos, Steve Burton as Cloud Strife, George Newbern as Sephiroth and Ali Hillis as Lightning. According to Square Enix, they won’t be the only ones as “numerous past voice actors have also returned to once again bring their characters to life.”

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Red Dead Redemption, Enslaved, God of War III lead 2011 AIAS nominees

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the nominees for the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs). As expected, Red Dead Redemption lead the way with nine nominations including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design and Game of the Year.

God of War III and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (a title that is already being considered one of the best games you’ve never played) shared the second-most nominations with six apiece. Other games up for multiple awards include Call of Duty: Black Ops, Heavy Rain, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Mass Effect 2 (five nominations apiece) along with Dance Central, Limbo and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (four apiece).

The awards will be handed out by Jay Mohr at the 2011 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit on Thursday, February 10. The hour-long show will be broadcast on G4 two days later, February 12, at 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) with a webcast scheduled for 7:30 PM (Eastern Time) at G4tv.com/DICE.

A complete list of nominees can be on the AIAS website, but the “Game of the Year” will come from this list of five: Angry Birds HD, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption.

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Square Enix officially releases Final Fantasy XIII-2 trailer

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

Every trailer from Square Enix’s 1st Production Department Premier showcase was leaked onto YouTube within hours of the end of the show. And like any big company, Square Enix pulled them down just as quickly as they were posted. But today, as promised, the publisher has released an official HD version of the Final Fantasy XIII-2 trailer. And best of all, it’s in English, so we can finally figure out what Lightning is saying.

Check it out above.

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Daily Scoop: January 20, 2011 – The 3DS vacuum

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Nicole Kline

There isn’t much to report today – after the Square Enix event Tuesday and the 3DS event yesterday, it seems like everyone is in a stupor. Who else has already pre-ordered their 3DS? What color did you opt for – regular black or tantalizing teal?

Anyway, all we have today is the Amazon Deal of the Day in Video Games, which is THQ’s Megamind: Mega Team Unite. Based on the movie Megamind, this Wii game is on sale for $19.99 today from $29.99.

Also of note is an amazing webcomic called MS Paint Adventures. I’ve recently re-visited the latest work by Andrew Hussie, an ongoing comic called Homestuck. It’s a webcomic…with music…and it also has games in it. If you have a lot of time on your hands, start with Problem Sleuth, which is already finished.

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