Gaming News

Gundam0084 · **Gundam0084**

It's really too bad about the delay for more development time, though. I think everyone knows it's because Smash Bros. Brawl's release was so close to Super Mario Galaxy.
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"No, I told you that your posts showed that you lacked intelligence. That's the opposite of telling you that you are right."-counterparadox

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Vivendi SA said Sunday that it plans to acquire a controlling stake in Activision Inc. and combine the company with Vivendi Games in a deal that would create a rival to Electronic Arts Inc. as the world’s largest video game publisher.

The combination of Santa Monica-based Activision, whose titles include “Guitar Hero,” “Call of Duty” and the “Tony Hawk” series, and Vivendi Games, which publishes “Crash Bandicoot” and owns the online role-playing franchise “World of Warcraft,” would create the world’s largest pure-play online and console game publisher, the companies said.

Vivendi Games will convert its equity into Activision shares valued at $8.1 billion, and Vivendi will buy an additional $1.7 billion of stock, for a total of $9.8 billion, giving Vivendi a 52 percent stake in a new company to be called Activision Blizzard. On that basis, Activision and Vivendi valued the combined company at $18.9 billion.

“This transaction has always stuck out as the way to become the number one most successful video-game publisher,” Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said in an interview.

Vivendi’s Irvine, Calif.-based Blizzard Entertainment is behind the top multiplayer online role-playing game franchise, “World of Warcraft,” which the company says more than 9.3 million subscribers worldwide. Blizzard’s Warcraft and Diablo series are two of the top-selling video game lines of all time.

Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman and chief executive officer of Vivendi, pledged the deal “will unlock the value of Blizzard.”

Said Jeff Brown, spokesman for Electronic Arts: “We wish them luck. We look forward to the competition and believe that EA still has the strongest portfolio of perennial game franchises.”

Kotick, who will stay on as president and CEO of the new company, said the deal had been in negotiations since January.

Under the agreement, shares of Vivendi Games will be converted into 295.3 million new shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share, for a value of $8.1 billion, the companies said in a statement.

Vivendi, based in Paris, France, also will purchase 62.9 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share, or $1.7 billion, giving Vivendi its 52 percent stake.

Activision Blizzard will continue to operate as a public company traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker ATVI.

After the transaction closes, expected in the first half of 2008, Activision Blizzard will launch a $4 billion all-cash tender offer to purchase up to 146.5 million Activision Blizzard common shares at $27.50 each. Vivendi also has agreed to acquire an additional $700 million of newly issued Activision shares, giving Vivendi about a 68 percent stake in Activision Blizzard if the tender offer is fully subscribed.

The offer price is a 24 percent premium to Activision’s closing price Friday of $22.15 per share.

Activision Blizzard’s board of directors will be comprised of six directors designated by Vivendi, two Activision management directors and three independent directors who currently serve on Activision’s board of directors.

Vivendi Games CEO Bruce Hack will serve as vice chairman and chief corporate officer of Activision Blizzard.

The merger will provide Activision Blizzard with the most diversified and broadest portfolio of interactive entertainment assets in the industry, according to the statement.

The companies said the transaction would be accretive to earnings for both companies’ shareholders in the first year after the deal closes. The combined company is targeting pro forma operating income of $1.1 billion and pro forma earnings per share of more than $1.20 in calendar year 2009.
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"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

SEATTLE (AP) — Microsoft Corp. said it will stop making HD DVD players for its Xbox 360 video game system after Toshiba Corp. ceded the high-definition video format battle to Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray.

Microsoft said Saturday it would continue to provide standard warranty support for its HD DVD players. Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida last week estimated about 300,000 people own the Microsoft video player, sold as a separate $130 add-on for the Xbox 360.

"HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own," Blair Westlake, a corporate vice president of Microsoft's media and entertainment group, said in a written statement.

Microsoft was one of HD DVD's main backers, along with Intel Corp. and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp., and its support for the format was seen as a big win for Toshiba's format.

But support for the HD DVD waned as major movie studios — Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co., News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. Entertainment — picked Blu-ray to distribute high-def DVDs. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. struck what seemed to be the final blow just over a week ago when it said it would only sell Blu-ray players and discs.

Microsoft said it is looking at how the HD DVD technology it has developed, such as HDi, which adds interactive features to DVDs, and its VC-1 video encoding technology, can be applied to other platforms.

The Redmond-based software maker said the decision to stop selling HD DVD players won't have a material impact on its video game business.
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

Blizzard Entertainment officially confirmed the third entry in the ultra successful Diablo series during the company's Worldwide Invitational event earlier today.

Alongside the confirmation, Blizzard has revealed that Diablo III takes place two decades after the events of Diablo II. Further plot details were limited, though the company also revealed two of the game's character classes: the barbarian and the witchdoctor.

Blizzard has also launched an official website for the game that not only includes the announcement, but also shows off 60 pieces of artwork from the game as well as a teaser trailer and nearly 20 minutes of gameplay footage.

In typical Blizzard fashion, the company is sticking to a "it'll be done when it's done" mantra and refuses to even speculate on a release window for the title.

Diablo III Official Site
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

JJc14 · **JJc14**

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Oct. 18 — Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. today announced plans to introduce a new 40GB model of its PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) computer entertainment system.

Beginning November 2nd, to further enhance the HD entertainment experience, the new 40GB PS3 model will come bundled with the blockbuster movie Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray Disc (BD) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $399 (USD/CND). The company also announced that effective immediately, the current 80GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499 (USD/CND), $100 below the original launch price.

The new 40GB PS3 will no longer play PlayStation2 titles, reflecting the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles. Consumers looking for backwards compatibility can take advantage of the limited PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility of the 80GB PS3.
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

Microsoft Corp. is cutting the price of its Xbox 360 gaming console beginning Friday, with the cheapest version selling for $200, making it less expensive than the Nintendo Wii, which retails for $250.

The Xbox 360 Arcade version had been selling for $280. Microsoft, which slashed the prices of the console in Japan on Monday, said the 60-gigabyte version of the console will now sell for $300, down from $350, and the high-end "Elite" 360 will go for $400, down from $450.

Microsoft has sold more than 20 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide since its introduction in late 2005, compared with 14.4 million units for the PlayStation 3 and nearly 30 million Wii units since their debut in November 2006.

Although the entry-level, 250-megabyte console will sell for less than the Wii, Xbox product manager Aaron Greenberg hesitated to characterize the price move as an attempt to steal consumers away from Nintendo's best-selling game machine.

"The fact that we're now cheaper than the Wii will change the marketplace ... but we really believe that the Wii and the Xbox 360 are more complementary," he said. "We don't see people going into stores trying to decide between a Wii and an Xbox 360. We see that happening much more with the 360 and the PlayStation 3."

Sony Corp.'s 80-gigabyte PlayStation 3 console, which includes a Blu-ray player, sells for $400. Sony had cut the price of that console in July but said it had no plans to slash the price further this year.

Sony plans several big first-party game releases for the crucial holiday shopping season, including "LittleBigPlanet" and Resistance 2." The price cut by Microsoft is widely viewed as an attempt to stem any bump in console sales that its competitor might see as a result of these releases.

"Price cuts always help, but I still think the PlayStation 3 will have a better holiday because they have a very solid-looking title lineup," UBS analyst Ben Schachter wrote in an e-mail.
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

LOS ANGELES—Microsoft Corp., seeking to re-energize sales in the videogame market, unveiled a redesigned version of its Xbox 360 game console that is sleeker and smaller, and it provided more details about its new Kinect motion technology.

The Microsoft unveiling is among the first of several expected from this year's E3 Expo videogame trade show from an industry that is counting on new hardware to rejuvenate sales.

On Tuesday, Nintendo Co. is expected to announce a new 3-D version of its DS hand-held device and Sony Corp. will likely show a slew of 3-D games and provide more details about its Move motion controller.

This year's E3 represents an important test of whether the industry can generate a level of excitement it desperately needs. Sales have been hurt by the economy and by competition from nontraditional forms of entertainment and games on smartphones and on social-network sites like Facebook.

The latest holiday season was particularly disappointing, with few game titles selling well besides Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" combat shooter game and Nintendo's "New Super Mario Bros. Wii." Videogame sales in the industry have fallen nearly 11% this year after declining 8% to $19.66 billion last year, according to industry research firm NPD Group.

Microsoft said at a press conference that it will introduce a new slimmer black Xbox 360 with a bigger hard drive for $299, the same price as the current model. It will be available starting later this week. It also said its new motion technology called Kinect, which was previously known as Project Natal, will go on sale in North America on Nov. 4 along with 15 launch titles, though it didn't provide a price.

Kinect is a camera and microphone that picks up on movement and speech, so users can interact with the Xbox 360 through gestures and verbal commands, without the need for a physical controller.

"We're launching a whole new era of entertainment," Don Mattrick, senior vice president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment division, said at the annual E3 Expo industry tradeshow.

Nintendo will be under pressure to keep its industry-leading Wii ahead of both Microsoft and Sony, which are introducing new motion technology to their respective consoles.

Part of Microsoft's bet is that the Xbox 360 can be the entertainment hub in the living room, providing access not only to games, but also to Facebook, Twitter, and the Netflix movie-downloading site. Kinect allows users to make gestures or give verbal commands to easily pick and choose from a main menu. A new video chat feature, Video Kinect, allows users talk to their friends.

"This will drum up interest this holiday. There are going to be lots of people very excited about the prospects of this technology," said Mike Vorhaus, president of research and consultancy group Magid Advisors. In a recent survey, Magid found that 11% of gamers are ready to spend more on games this year than last year.
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP


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