Bungie and Activision agreement. What it means to the customer?

Big news broke up yesterday regarding 10 years publishing deal between Bungie and Activision. Although Bungie broke off with Microsoft on 2007, Bungie was in contract to deliver couple Halo games. Now that they made Halo Reach, which could be the final Halo series developed by Bungie, they finally can focus on the new IP.

A lot of gaming community "cried" because the deal with Activision. Activision had a bad reputation lately because of Infinity Ward's soap opera, that many gamers condemn Activision for treating IW such a way. While it is impossible know what happen exactly between Activision and IW, it couldn't stop bad publicity for Activision. 

Putting aside Activision and IW saga, should Bungie goes to EA, the balance of power is not right. EA already has Battlefield: Bad company, Medal of honor series plus whatever Respawn Entertainment will be making, which most likely will be another FPS, EA will be too strong in FPS genre and it is not good for customers.

With Bungie joining Activision, at least competition is healthy and we will enjoy some good games from all developers.Considering Activision's financial powerhouse, it will help speed up Bungie's growth even more.

And since Bungie remains independent and will retain its IP rights, Bungie should have freedom of creativity in its games and not subject to Activision's terror.

True that Activision probably is the most hated game company on earth right now, but from customer's point of view, the deal between Bungie and Activision is not such a bad move after all.
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News & Update, 30 March

- Activision being sued for half a billion dollars by Infinity ward employee group whom some of them still employed at Infinitiy Wards, on top of West and Zampella suit. According to them Activision apparently withhold bonus payment and held developers hostage until completion of Modern Warfare 3. Like I said, Activision promises is like dangling a carrot with a stick.

- The new Medal of Honor multiplayer apparently going to be developed by DICE. After liking what they did with Battlefiled Bad Company 2, pretty sure it is going to be solid.

- Bungie just signed publishing agreement with Activision for the next 10 years. Bungie will still retain the IP rights and remain independent. It is remain unclear however whether Activision will publish ALL Bungie's game for the next 10 year. This looks like just a distribution agreement for one IP to multiple consoles.
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Rumor: Leaked list of E3 games includes LBP 2, Infamous 2, many more..

The picture was taken from www.qj.net. Although it didn't indicated what source this list is, we do think it is possible. Some of the title we already knew that it is going to be in E3 like Gear of War 3, inFamous 2, Resistance 3, Killzone 3 and Dead Space 2. However couple games do raised our eyebrow.

Firstly Mass Effect 3 under Sony banner. True, Mass Effect series has been an exclusive for Xbox 360 after all this time, but Bioware and EA is still a third party, and from the looks of it, it will be coming to Sony. After all Final Fantasy XIII did come to Xbox 360 last time.

Secondly God of War 3: Afterfall could well be a DLC. Those who are not very fond of GOW 3's ending will be pleased to know that there is further twist to the story.

Thirdly is Bad Company 3. Wow, EA sure in a hurry. They just release Bad Company 2 not too long ago. Nevertheless we won't mind if given a preview of the third series, won't we?

Call of Duty: MMO. Really? Actually it is a brave move by Activision to make an MMO based of Call of Duty games. We'll see if this is any good.

Project Xfree should be a game for Project Natal. Since Natal doesn't require any controller, 'free' is appropriate word for it. Though I was expecting some party games that require motion controller from Sony. Oh well.. I'm quite excited for this year E3. Please take it with grain of salt. After all it is still a rumor. Very convincing rumor indeed..
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Super Street Fighter IV Endless Battle Mode set a new bar in fighting genre

The new Super Street Fighter IV launches today with 10 new characters and additional Ultra moves, bonus stages, online game modes and many more. One particularly notable is the Endless battle mode.

With other friends, you can create a private lobby in Endless Battle mode. This mode lets two of your friends fight each other while others are spectator like live streaming mode with excellent compression. The winners stays and fight the next opponent.

Its a huge upgrade from previous Street Fighter IV where you can only fight 1 on 1. This mode brings your friend together and share experiences which really awesome and eliminate the need to go over to your friends house. If you like the match, you can save the replay for review later.
Capcom, in fact should do this long time ago and in my opinion, every fighting game should employ this mode as a standard from now on. 


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Final Fight Double impact restricts PSN sharing

For those who just recently buy Final Fight Double Impact on PSN might have realized that the sharing won't work. You can only play the game, using the same account you bought it, with PSN connection, or the game will simply won't play.
Almost all the games that you bought from PSN can be shared among five different accounts, thus making sharing game cost possible. But that day might end. After David Jaffe called PSN sharing a horse dung, Capcom implies DRM without even mentioning it in the description. As a matter of fact, it is a trial by Capcom to see what is the response of the gamer.

While I cannot blame the developers in doing that, I love game sharing on PSN. It makes the games affordable. However it doesn't eliminate the fact that it is ridiculous to play a single player game with internet connection much like Assassin Creed 2 PC DRM.
   
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News & Update

- Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 will feature Two-Face, Mr Freeze, Thalia Al Ghul as said by various voice actors who seems to be involved in the project. It also rumored that Robin will join the crew and it will be much darker Batman. Oh boy, I'm sure excited.

- Starcraft 2 getting an Adult Only rating in Korea. Seriously? Starcraft? Adult Only? Given how popular Starcraft is to Koreans, an AO rating will not stop them from playing.

- New iPhone was leaked by Gizmondo. It said to have more squared design and two cameras, one in the front, the other at the back. The resolution is sharper than current iPhone. Rumored to launch this summer 2010.

- PlanetXbox 360 reported Capcom confirmed the development of Marvel vs Capcom 3 at the Capcom Captivate event in Hawaii. The game will have a mix of 2D and 3D much like Street Fighter IV. Some confirmed characters include Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk, Magneto and Storm. It is schedule to release on PS3 and Xbox 360 in late 2010 or early 2011. I will surely looking forward for this one.

- Nintendo blames R4 Cartridges for 50% sales drop in Europe. I don't blame them, in my country its more like 99% drop sales because of this R4 thing.
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Ubisoft is becoming more environmental by ditching printed manual

Ubisoft by today announce that they will stop providing printed manual in their games, instead it will be in game digital version. The digital version promised to have more benefit like more robust manual.

I would say it's really a not bad decision by Ubisoft considering how rarely I need to read manual for the game. The in game tutorial itself is already sophisticated. Secondly if it can help save the environment then why not. I certainly will be pleased to see a more dynamic user manual guide than printed version.

So what do you think? Do you care about printed manual?
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Is 3D here to stay?

3D suddenly popping out everywhere in our life. Nintendo announced 3DS just a moment ago as its next handheld console with the capability to display 3D image without the use of glasses. And before that Sony is having a big plan for its 3D programme. The PS3 will be given an updated firmware to do play games in 3D in summer and simultaneously release its 3D TV line up, though Samsung already steal some pace and release 3D LED TV in my country.

So with all the sudden, 3D could be becoming part of our lives. The question is, is it here to stay?
For example, just a year ago, in Jakarta, a cinema began to offer some films in 3D mode with double its price. Of course people flocked in to see what is it about. Although many people complains that sometimes they have a headache to see 3D image for hours, the 3D movie proves to be sustainable. Until now, slowly and steadily other cinemas beginning to offer 3D in some of the theatres. 

Looking at the trend, it would be safe to say that 3D market will grow and in the near future, we might have 3D as part of our live. ESPN is beginning to deliver some of its sports channel in 3D mode and I assume other channel will also try and look if there are sustainable demand. Of course it needs time, because in order to watch 3D in your home, you will need a 3D capable TV and people won't immediately change their TV into 3D TV considering new technology always cost more.

However, TV manufacturers are keen to avoid the mistake when HDTV introduced to the market with a really high price. This time, while it is still expensive, the price level is less than HDTV first introduced era to speed up the market penetration.

Verdict? Most likely 3D is here to stay, it is proven that market can accept it and it will grow especially when the technology becoming cheaper and cheaper in the future. But maybe they can do something with the glasses? It just look ridiculous for people watching TV with 3D glasses on. Don't you think?
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Ex Infintity Wards exec form new studio, join EA partners program. A big blow to Activision

Gaming industry big news today. West and Zampella who fired from Activision, form a new independent studio called Respawn Entertainment. Not only that, they joined EA partners program, in which EA will publish whatever future game they make and Respawn Entertainment will retain and own the IP. 

With Infinity Ward key personnel are leaving, the last being Jon Shiring, a senior programmer since CoD 2, the balance of power in modern FPS is changing. It is still unknown whether the IW personnel who leaves will join Respawn Entertainment, and if I may say it will be very likely.

During recent interveiw, it found out that the disagreement happens way back before the launching of Modern Warfare 2. Firstly, IW didn't like that Treyach just carbon copy their CoD 4 when they make CoD 5. Secondly, the idea of milking CoD every year even though IW make Modern Warfare every two years is not really in tune with IW. Thirdly, Activision won't let IW develop a new IP and want to start immediately develop MW3 and that makes IW disgruntled.

So, what's the next project for Respawn Entertainment? Well, it is definitely not Medal of Honor which many people guessed, because Respawn wants to create something new and own the IP. It looks like that they want to create a game that the universe can extended into comic books or movie, much like Halo franchise. Though they won't guarantee anything.

In the end, with all this mumbo jumbo involving Activision, IW, and Respawn, guess who take the profit? Yes, it is EA ladies and gentlement. EA could be on its way back to status quo being the biggest game producer.
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Crysis 2 writer sums up Modern Warfare 2 perfectly

Crysis 2 writer Richard Morgan has a say about Modern Warfare 2. Although it is a big hit, the writer feels that it is a "immense dissapointment". Quote from Joystiq:

 "It was a massive stepdown from CoD4. What I thought when I played it was, 'Jesus guys, what have you been doing? You've not ramped anything up. The story is worse and the game doesn't really hang together, it's just a bunch of mission levels. It made no sense. It was totally implausible. It doesn't resolve... I just think they were way too impressed with themselves and that's always a danger. It's just unfortunate."

I couldn't agree more with the comment. From the single player perspective Modern Warfare 2 didn't take any risk in relation to the story. They basically take the old formula which is already stale and put it into the sequel. I remember that my jaw drop when I learn that the hero was killed in CoD 4. And it was so memorable during the last stage when Capt Price throw the gun and let me kill the rest of the baddies.

So when jumping into Modern Warfare 2, everything is so predictable. Capt Price not dead? Check. Our controlled character dead? Check. Actually they did it twice! Fighting the bad guy in the end with slow motion? Check. Plus the story is twisted and twisted, in the end I don't know who's who and what the hell are we fighting against.

In term of story, I really disappointed with Modern Warfare 2. In terms of multiplayer gameplay, yes it is still solid but it really didn't tinker with the formula. The point is, like Richard Morgad said, Activision is way too impressed with themselves and it is always a danger.
Take a look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2. It really fix what's wrong with the first sequel. More teamwork, and the gameplay is more exciting than MW2. My point is Modern Warfare 3 has to change in terms of story and multiplayer perspective, Activision should keep their feet on the ground, don't just rush CoD every year and milk it. They have to improve it because others have catch up.
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Activision counter suit to ex Infinity Ward Founder is a bit off

We know it just a matter of time before Activision do a counter suit against West and Zampella. In this suit, Activision claimed that West and Zampella conspired with rival competitor (most likely be EA), trying to break away from Activision and form a new studio.

A quote from 1UP.com says this.. 

 The suit, which was filed this morning and aptly described by the Los Angeles Times as reading "more like a dramatic Hollywood script," claims that West and Zampella intentionally prevented Activision from giving bonus money to other Infinity Ward developers "in order to make these employees easier to poach when West and Zampella executed their plans to leave the company and set up their own company."

It is odd. Especially they sentence "West and Zampella intentionally prevented Activision from giving bonus money to other Infinity Ward developers "in order to make these employees easier to poach when West and Zampella..."
Sure, if the money has been given to West and Zampella, and they are not distributing it to the rest of the team, then Activision has a case. But how could you blame others for preventing you from giving others money?? If you had the money, and want to give it to other people, you just give it. Nothing in this world can stop that.

When people are not happy in your company, they will probably looking for another job and it is normal, happens every time. I can understand if West and Zampella is trading company's secret, but gaming industry is about intangible assets. What can you trade? Bunch of source code? It is a creativity industry, you can have the same idea, but depending on how you make it, small details like camera, story, pacing, etc that can make the difference. So it is really depends on how you keep your star players, just like in football.

So they want out, surely if the contract doesn't say that they cannot contact EA, then West and Zampella is breaching the contract and Activision will surely win this legal battle. But if not, then what's the problem?
If Activision wants to keep the rest of Infinity Ward from being pouched, surely a billion dollar company can offer better than new startup company. 
I think Activision and Bobby Kotick is just pissed that they got the Modern Warfare 3 delayed because of this. 
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Apple announced its own social network called Game Center

Apple has a share of success regarding gaming platform for iPhone and now possibly iPad. To further enhance its infrastructure, taking cue from Xbox Live and PSN, Apple will develop its own gaming social network called 'Game Center'. 

Game Center will feature automatic matchmaking, achievements, leaderboards, and many more. An example of interesting feature will be, let's say a friend wants to challenge you to a game you don't have. You can immediately download/ buy the game.

While Apple didn't specify when this feature will be available, there will be a preview when OS 4 when launches in summer.

It is a right step for Apple to develop gaming social network to enhance its gaming market. It will contribute more value added product into its system, in which at the end more revenue to Apple and game developers.
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News & Update, 9th April

- Call of Duty 7: Black Ops are set during World War 2 and present day. It could be during the cold war and vietnam war. Zombie mode will also return.

- Polyphony say that Gran Turismo 5 could possibly implement Playstation move and 3D. Aw come on.. release the game already.

- It is reported that two key person from Infinity ward has resigned from the studio. They are in charge of the multiplayer and the story. Looks like Infinity ward is mere a shell company now.

- Apple's iPad reportedly has sold 300.000 units on the first day in US. Given the amount of over hype about this device, it come to no surprise.

- Microsoft lied about Natal presentation at E3.. according to David Cage. The ability to take picture and map it instantly into a game is possible, but not to the extend to what been demoed by Microsoft at E3. Well.. that's what I call marketing.

- Activision reportedly selling 2.5 million of stimulus package from Microsoft data. With current rate, we will see a $20 map pack with 5 old maps of Call of Duty 4..

- Pokemon Black and White announced for DS. Details has been scarce, so stay tuned to hear more about this mega franchise.
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is iPad a prospect gaming destination?

Apple's iPad just launched in US and manage to sell 300.000 units on its first day of sales. Quite impressive given how high the price is. Whether it can be as successful as iPhone, it remains to be seen. Now forget everything that iPad can do, and let's just concentrate on gaming. Can iPad potentially be a juggernaut in gaming industry, or at least as successful as iPhone?

Firstly the price, for $499 starting price depending on the feature you want is much more expensive that the PS3.
Secondly, iPhone was successful because the game is always there in your pocket, because you definitely carry your phone everywhere including the bathroom! iPad on the other hand, is bigger. Though you can fit it into your laptop back, but you might not have it every time. So iPad will get a competition from NDS and PSP in terms of portable gaming in terms of size, weight, and its library.
Thirdly, as advanced as iPhone and iPad can be, I feel that buttons is a necessary feature for gaming. Don't get me wrong. I'm actually amazed by how iPhone games are controlled by touching, but it just feels different especially if you are playing games like Street Fighter IV.

Games never be a reason in buying iPad, however since iPad is more or less a bigger iPhone, developer can develop games for both of them simultaneously. So expect a lot of bigger version of iPhone games to iPad.


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