This week’s episode takes a look at this week’s Gaming Flashback, Viva Pinata.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think.
The deal has been done, you can now officially call the company Activision Blizzard. Sure, the name is sorta lame but it does cover the bases… they’re Activision and they’re Blizzard; surely neither company wanted to lose their lively hood and branding.
We’re now looking at a company that’s more powerful than Electronic Arts, surely this worries Electronic Arts a bit. However, consumers like ourselves should be cheering for more competition against the big EA, perhaps forcing them to innovate a bit more and keep competitive.
Many gamers and industry participants would love to see independent companies grab a bit of the market share and bring in new startup companies and spin-off studios. However, if there is going to be a merger at the top-tier it might as well be one that puts pressure on Electronic Arts.
“We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction, and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential,” gushed Vivendi SA CEO Jean-Bernard Levy. “I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe.” (gamespot)
Now, we’ll have to wait and see if the upper level management can get along in a fluid manner and keep all their projects on track. With great power comes great responsibility, they’ve got the power… are they going to be responsible with it?
The TD Gaming Podcast and Videogame Roundtable merge, as Jonah Falcon introduces VGRT regular Jordan Lund to his new listeners, as the VGRT Gaming Podcast is born.
The podcast is a little rushed, however, as E3 approaches, giving the duo only some time to discuss the eventful past week, which includes the following news:
For this podcast, this Question of the Week is, “What game do you want to learn about the most at E3” Of course, by the time the next podcast is launched, that question will probably be satisfied. As for Reader Feedback, we didn’t have time to answer it, but we will respond to it next week!
PlayStation 2 fans may recall a little title called Okami, it’s an action adventure game developed by Clover Studios and published by Capcom. The original Okami title received fairly high reviews by many popular game sites, although there were a few flaws, the receiption seemed well received.
Clover Studios was closed after the release and all the intellectual properties went back to Capcom, the company that funded the studio, leaving Capcom responsible for future sequels.
Christian “Sven” Svensson said “I think we need a lot more people buying the current version before we seriously consider a sequel”. A harsh statement on the game’s combined sales figures, perhaps, but also probably an accurate one. (Kotaku)
This is the sound of a developer not so happy with prior performance and finding it too risky to try for a second title. Although many sequels outshine their parents there is some truth to the fact that slow selling parents will create slow selling sequels, there is something to be said about learning form past experiences.
The game had good reviews, isn’t it worth trying to make a second game based on that? Maybe people just aren’t jazzed about Japaense folklore, myths and legends as the basis for a game.
