Sonic has had a bit of trouble reaching out to gamers over the past few years. Ever since Sonic the Hedgehog hit next gen consoles, fans have been starting to wonder if their favorite speedy blue critter still has what it takes to be in a game that’s, well, fun.
Well forget about the past people, because Sonic looks to be on course for a major comeback. The above trailer shows off the touch centric real time combat system that will be featured in Bioware’s upcoming Sonic Chronicles RPG, and it’s looking pretty promising. Between this and Sonic Unleashed our little blue friend might just be able to redeem himself.
Patcher. Michael Patcher. Everyone’s favorite video game industry analyst, bearer of news before it even becomes news, and overall awesome guy! What do you have for us today oh great soothsayer of the digital realm?
What’s that you say about GTA IV?Possible what? Possible delay?! Let’s take a deep breath, calm down, and talk this over shall we?
Speaking to Jeff Keighley on the internet gaming show Bonus Round, Mr. Patcher talked about the possiblity of Electronic Arts acquiring Take-Two, and what effect such a take over could have on the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. And those effects? Not so good. Straight from Patcher’s mouth:
“I think if EA takes over Take-Two, they have an economic incentive to delay GTA IV.”
You had better start hoping that this deal never goes down my fellow gamers, or these April showers might not bring any May flowers. Not for GTA fans at least.
Electronic Arts has been quick to taut it’s top place as a video game publisher ever since receiving the title. But, Activision dethroned them in 2007. This was confirmed by the December NPD’s which show that Activision has 17.3% market share in the industry which is up 7% from the previous year. This success is due to games like Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III, which are two of the best-selling games of the year(and that means a lot in 2007).
Activison was found in 1979 and first began making cartridges for the Atari 2600. This makes it one of the oldest publishers in the industry. Becoming the top-publisher is a pretty big milestone for the 35+ year old company because this is the first time they have been crowned the Top US publisher in the entire life of the company. So, we here at RotPod would like to commend Activision for a great year, but we have no doubt EA will be hot on their heels in the coming year to play catch up. Let’s just hope that the Activision-Blizzard merger will bring us some new, great games.
EA cast aside (with accurate physics) rumors regarding a Crysis port for the 360 yet again. After many flip-flops and subtle hints regarding the port, this announcement really should be expected by most all of us. EA also denies the legitimacy of a recent listing by an Austrian retailer for Crysis pre-orders. Whether they actually are telling the final truth this time or not, it is no secret that the Crysis trademark could really go for a little more sales than it currently musters, as an exclusive PC title with lofty system requirements. Even if EA doesn’t have any plans for a port, if they plan on making some money on this game, they really should begin coming up with some ideas.
There has been a lot of hazy reporting over the last two days about Peter Moore’s resignation, and now that the dust has cleared I have decided to put all the info and links into one definitive post. So without further ado, here is the Peter Moore Resignation Fact Sheet.
Peter Moore announced his resignation on the 17th and that he would be taking up a job at EA Games as the Head of the EA Sports branch of the company. Microsoft and EA confirmed this on the same day.
The reason for Moore’s departure from Microsoft had to do with his family wanting to return to the Bay Area in California, and this EA position will allow them to live and work where they feel at home. His resignation did not have anything to do with the recent 3 year warranty business, and I am pretty sure that everyone is accepting that as fact. All of the theories about him leaving for these reasons should really be put to rest.
Don Mattrick will sit in as Peter Moore’s replacement, who’s background in the industry includes being the President of EA, and an External Adviser at Microsoft up until now. He will step in at the end of August as Moore will stick around to halp with the transition until then. Mattrick has said that he does not think he needs to do any major tweaking at his new Xbox position, as the branch has been run very well up until now.
Moore’s salary info at EA was announced after the press release detailing his resignation. His base salary will be $550,000 dollars and he is entitled to a discretionary target bonus of up to 75% of this. In addition, during his first 30 days at EA, Mr. Xbox 360 will receive a $1.5 million dollar signing bonus to assure he stays on board for at least 2 years. If he leaves within his first 2 years at the company, he will be responsible for paying that bonus back to the company. If Peter does indeed stay fro 2 years, he will receive 25,000 company shares, and 25,000 more will be granted to him after 4 years at EA. On top of all that, Moore will be getting $330,000 in moving expenses to help him get back to the Bay Area. Damn!
Peter Moore says farewell to Microsoft, the Xbox community, and Major Nelson during the latest episode of Major Nelson Radio. In the interview, Moore talks about the reason for his decision and his future at EA and in the Bay Area.
After all is said and done, I don’t think anyone wants to see Peter Moore depart from his position above the platform that he helped build and make successful, but as he says during his Major Nelson Radio interview, his family’s wishes must come first over his desire to stay at a certain job. It will certainly be tough for Mattrick to fill the shoes of the former face of Xbox, but Microsoft seems to have utmost confidence in his ability to get the job done. From Halo 2 and GTA IV tattoos, to his recent foray into the world of Video Game Music Simulators with Rock Band, everyone can remember something about Peter Moore’s time at the company. Let’s just hope his successor is half the public speaker and figure as he was.
Edit: I just noticed that I kept saying retirement instead of resignation during the post (including in the title). Oops. Sorry about that, I fixed it now.
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Electronic Arts has been quick to taut it’s top place as a video game publisher ever since receiving the title. But, Activision dethroned them in 2007. This was confirmed by the December NPD’s which show that Activision has 17.3% market share in the industry which is up 7% from the previous year. This success is due to games like Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III, which are two of the best-selling games of the year(and that means a lot in 2007).
EA cast aside (with accurate physics) rumors regarding a Crysis port for the 360 yet again. After many flip-flops and subtle hints regarding the port, this announcement really should be expected by most all of us. EA also denies the legitimacy of a recent listing by an Austrian retailer for Crysis pre-orders. Whether they actually are telling the final truth this time or not, it is no secret that the Crysis trademark could really go for a little more sales than it currently musters, as an exclusive PC title with lofty system requirements. Even if EA doesn’t have any plans for a port, if they plan on making some money on this game, they really should begin coming up with some ideas.
