Gaming Roundup: NatGeo; Music Mogul; Square Enix; Brash Gets Sued; Infogrames/Atari; Top 5 Of 08
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
National Geographic gets in game : National Geographic Ventures, the for-profit unit of National Geographic Society is launching a gaming division, and its first title is a free download called Herod's Lost Tomb. The game is accessible via PC, Mac and iPhone, with forthcoming titles being developed for the Wii, PS3 and various handheld devices. Former Take-Two exec Chris Mate will head up National Geographic Games. THR says the unit will germinate games on its own and through partners like Namco Bandai and Sony (NYSE: SNE).
Music-focused virtual world to launch in February : Is there room for another virtual worldand a music-focused one at that? The founders of Music Mogul seem to think so. Grammy winning producer Rodney Jerkins and former Massive and Vivendi (EPA: VIV) exec Nicholas Longano have partnered to launch the world, which will give users avatars, various social media features, and the ability to upload clips of themselves performing. (Longano actually jumped ship from Brash Entertainment, the gaming studio he helped found, back in May.) Music Mogul will run based on premium subscriptions, the sale of virtual goods and ads. Reuters says Lionsgate Home Entertainment has already signed on as a sponsor. A sneak peak of the world will be available November 24, with the full rollout slated for February 2009.
Square Enix opens LA studio : Japanese game publisher Square Enix has set up a development studio in LA, its second shop in the U.S. Ars Technica says it's a sign that the company, which develops games like the Final Fantasy series and Disney's Kingdom Hearts has begun to shift its focus to titles that appeal to a worldwide audience (as opposed to just Japanese gamers).
More after the jump.
Developers sue Brash for nonpayment : Adding insult to injury, defunct Hollywood gaming studio Brash Entertainment is being sued by two former developers for nonpayment. The LAT reports that Zootfly and California 7 Studios have suits against Brash for $748,000 and $581,000, respectively; arguing that they completed or nearly completed games that the company then canceled work on. Brash went belly-up last week, according to Variety. The studio ran out of cash after investors in its hyped $400 million dollar funding round pulled out because co-founder Thomas Tull left the board.
Atari games pump up Q3 for Infogrames : French videogame publisher Infogrames' takeover of Atari has paid offas sales of Atari games like Alone in the Dark and the Dragonball Z series have pumped up revenue for the first half of the company's 2009 fiscal year by 44.5 prcent to over $165.3 million (131 million Euros). While Infogrames still posted a 7.5 percent loss, that's improved significantly from the previous year. Release.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl top-seller of 2008 so far : We've still got the holiday rush to count, but the top-selling game of 2008 is Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, which has moved about 3.5 million units so far. Gamasutra pulls in NPD Group stats as well as previously stated estimates by each publisher to compile a list of the top five titles: Mario Kart for the Wii, with 3.4 million units; Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 with roughly 3.2 million units; Wii Play with 3 million and Wii Fit, with 2.8 million. Notice the trend? Not one Sony PS3 title made it in, and Nintendo's "family-friendly" system continues to pummel its hard-core competitors in terms of software and hardware sales.
By Tameka Kee