Gadgets and Video Games

A new company debuting at GDC 2010, Super Giant Games is largely comprised of ex-EA LA members — you know, the guys and gals who made those Command & Conquer games you like so much. The new studio’s project is something for “digital platforms,” destined for a 2011 release.

Excerpt from: 
Super Giant Games: New studio of former Command & Conquer vets

When Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 was revealed to have PlayStation Move support , we wondered why EA would support every other motion-controlled peripheral (all two) and not Microsoft’s Project Natal . So we hit up EA for an answer. As it turns out, EA just wasn’t “in a position” to add Natal support to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 — but the company doesn’t rule out implementation in future installments of the franchise. “We are always evaluating new technologies and Natal would be a perfect fit for the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise,” an EA spokesperson told Joystiq, “however we are simply not in a position to do so with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 .” There you have it: Natal is a “perfect fit,” but Tiger Woods 11 won’t have that functionality. Our guess

More here: 
EA: No Project Natal support for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

Pirates Plund-Arrr is best summed up as Castle Crashers , but with pirates. On the Wii. For $30. Unfortunately for Majesco and developer Boomzap, PSN and XBLA have spoiled us with a number of high-quality downloadable beat ‘em ups for under $20. By skipping WiiWare and releasing as a retail game, Pirates Plund-Arrr seems a bit too pricey for its genre.

Continued here:
Impressions: Pirates Plund-Arrr

EA’s been keen on in-game advertising since 2006, and, two years ago, signed a pretty big deal with in-game ad provider Massive. Apparently, though, EA won’t be re-upping that agreement. As Mediaweek reports, the publisher has instead decided to take it upon itself to coordinate in-game ad sales starting with Madden NFL 11 .

Original post: 
EA shifting ad sales in-house starting with Madden NFL 11

Surprise! Major MMOs cost batty-bonkers-cuckoo amounts of money to produce. Eurogamer reports that Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown said as much today, describing Star Wars: The Old Republic as the “largest ever development project, period, in the history of the company.” EA is apparently betting big on having something like Activision Blizzard’s World of Warcraft with The Old Republic . Brown guesstimates that WoW cost about $100 million to launch back in 2004 — the game makes something like that now in a month. The executive explained that the average game costs about $30 million to produce, but that “any MMO costs significantly more than that.” With an expected spring 2011 release , hopefully EA will start making a return at that time on its investment in a galaxy far, far away. Otherwise, the gaping maw of the Rancor would be preferable to what investors will do

Read the original post: 
SWTOR is EA’s most expensive project yet

It’s unsurprising that most game retailers who dabble in the pre-owned market feel jilted by an initiative EA CEO John Riccitiello calls “Project Ten Dollar” — after all, it was designed to reclaim some of the revenues earned by secondhand sellers. A number of representatives from used game retailers recently spoke to GamesIndustry (login required) about the perils EA faces by bundling DLC redemption codes with new copies of the publisher’s games.

Here is the original post: 
Used game retailers respond to ‘Project Ten Dollar’

Apparently, not everyone who received one of those fancy voucher codes from BlizzCon 2008 was accepted into the first wave of invites for StarCraft 2 . A Blizzard representative explained on the Battle.net forums that “due to the sheer number of BlizzCon attendees, we could not get everyone in with the first wave.” That being said, you might want to reconsider dropping $300 on one of those vouchers. The poster confirmed that these neglected BlizzCon attendees “will be included in a future wave, possibly within the next two weeks.” We’re hoping the wave isn’t restricted to just this group of globetrotters , and that us plebes can get our hands on the highly sought-after strategy title as well. [Via Big Download ] BlizzCon attendees getting StarCraft 2 beta invites ‘possibly within the next two weeks’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds

Original post:
BlizzCon attendees getting StarCraft 2 beta invites ‘possibly within the next two weeks’

[Elisabeth Caren] Activision CEO Bobby Kotick’s speech at DICE was certainly a highlight of this year’s convention. The polarizing figure took the stage and spoke his mind — whether it was for better or worse was a topic of debate for the rest of the show. Some saw it as humanizing the demonized executive, who makes no apologies for running an efficient and profitable company (especially in this economy ), while others couldn’t believe that PR ever let him take the stage with what seemed like a fairly off-the-cuff speech. Disbarred attorney Jack Thompson took the opportunity to send California State Senator Leland Yee (and the entire press) a letter declaring “Gotcha!” to a section of Kotick’s speech. Using a piece he read on GamePolitics as a springboard, Thompson writes that Kotick’s admission that the executive would still be really into video games if it didn’t run the risk of interfering with his life and running a major publisher is an “admission [that] flies in the face of video game industry spokespersons’ false, sometimes perjured assertions, that video games do not affect the behavior of minors

Original post:
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick’s full DICE speech, Jack Thompson says ‘Gotcha!’

Lots of the celebrities at last night’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity benefit tournament didn’t know much about gaming, but Greg Grunberg is the exception. Even if he can’t dive deep into the differences between next-gen shooters, he at least knows the audience, having appeared on Lost and Alias and controlled minds as Matt Parkman on Heroes . He was at the benefit in West Hollywood promoting the Epilepsy Foundation (his son deals with epileptic seizures, and Grunberg has done some advocacy work on his own as well), and right before he sat down to play BFBC2 alongside Chad Ochocinco and Marshall Faulk, he sat down to chat with us.

More here:
Interview: Greg Grunberg at the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity challenge

Eight members of the EA Tiburon development staff acted as emissaries for the Orlando, Fla. based developer when they visited the city’s Florida Hospital for Children recently, bearing gifts of games and what must have been a nice diversion from the “man, being in the hospital sucks ” blues. Madden development director Chad Merriam and associate art director Tony Stanley were among those who stopped by with a pack of 30 new games for the hospital’s library, including Madden NFL 10 , Boom Blox and Rock Band

Here is the original post: 
EA Tiburon visits Florida children’s hospital (and donates lots of games)