Monthly Archives: October 2012

EA is reportedly “disappointed” with the critical reception of it’s latest release, Medal Of Honor Warfighter. Medal Of Honor was released last week and has received mixed to mainly negative reactions. Most reviews haven’t given the game above a 7. Analog Addiction gave MOH a 6.5/10 in it’s review.

John Riccitiello of EA said that the launch of the game “is coming in below our expectations” in a call with IGN.

“We’re disappointed with the critical reception,” ”Internal testing and mock reviews indicated that the game is better than the [Metacritic] score we have right now. We believe it is. However, we are seeing folks out there that just don’t like the game.” said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau.

According to EA, Medal Of Honor Warfighter sits atop the UK sales charts at number 1. As for other territories, no information has been released.

Source: IGN, Game Informer.

George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction, the home of the latest news, reviews and previews. You can find George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Be sure to follow the OFFICIALAnalog Addiction Twitter as well! 

Call Of Duty publisher Activision are having to layoff staff in a “realigning the structure” of it’s business. The Minneapolis division of the company is the branch in question here and is cutting 30 full time staff members. The publisher has bought us Prototype 2 and The Amazing Spiderman this year. Activision Minneapolis “will release fewer games based on third-party licenses” next year in comparison to 2012.

“Like any successful business, Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues – this is an ongoing process. In 2013, we expect that our Minneapolis division will release fewer games based on third-party licenses than we released during 2012,”

Activision has also state that the staff members affected will be “redirected” into different positions in the publisher. We are working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services.”

According to Joystiq, no studio staff have been affected and that it’s just publishing staff.

Sony recently announced a “restructuring” of it’s business. As these layoffs seem to be affecting more and more companies, the question remains as to who is next.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected.

Source: Joystiq.

George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction, the home of the latest news, reviews and previews. You can find George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Be sure to follow the OFFICIALAnalog Addiction Twitter as well! 

The news breaking today of Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm for $4.5 billion dollars today has pretty much set the internet on fire but more importantly has raised questions as to what will happen to some of Lucasfilms assets such as Lucasarts and the future of Star Wars video games.

In a response to IGN, Lucasarts gave this statement:

“For the time being all projects are business as usual. We are excited about all the possibilities that Disney brings.”

If you want anymore information however, Lucasarts is just sending folk straight toward to the official press release instead of talking. Bob Iger of Disney has stated that Lucasarts will now be focusing on more mobile and social games rather than consoles as they move forward  However, as pointed out by Tech Crunch, console games will developed by external developers in the future with the Star Wars license being lent out.

Source: IGN.

George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction, the home of the latest news, reviews and previews. You can find George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Be sure to follow the OFFICIALAnalog Addiction Twitter as well! 

Disney has announced that it has bought Lucasfilm Ltd. for a huge sum of $4.5 billion dollars. It has also announced that a new Star Wars film is planned for 2015 along with a further film, episode VIII and IX “every other year” and that Disney will “go from there”. Disney now owns Indiana Jones and Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound and presumably Lucasarts.

The press release is as follows.

Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet adjustments.

“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and “evergreen” Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship between them that already includes successful integration of Star Wars content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.

Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm’s legendary Star Wars franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. Star Wars feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars one of the world’s top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney’s strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.

The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney’s very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company’s unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney’s portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company’s ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world’s highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.

Tell us what you think guys. Keep the swearing and violence to a minimum though.

Source: IGN.

George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction, the home of the latest news, reviews and previews. You can find George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Be sure to follow the OFFICIALAnalog Addiction Twitter as well! 

Actor Bill Murry (no, not the ghostbuster), has out Modern Warfare 4. Murray voices Captain Price in all three Modern Warfare games and allegedly told This Is Xbox “Yeah, on Monday I am off to meet Infinity Ward about the next game, Modern Warfare 4, I’m doing work on the sequel to Modern Warfare 3, it carries straight on and I only ever appear in the Modern Warfare games.”. It is important to not however, that this isn’t an official announcement by Activision or Infinity Ward.

According to Infinity Ward, the developer responded via Twitter that whilst the news was “Interesting”, they’ve “not talked with any voice actors, so all news is speculation.

For any news that develops, stay locked in to Analog Addiction.

Source: IGN.

George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction, the home of the latest news, reviews and previews. You can find George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Be sure to follow the OFFICIALAnalog Addiction Twitter as well! 

Following a leaked release window of spring 2013 that was in turn followed by a confirmation Tweet from Game’s Brighton store, Rockstar has officially announced that Grand Theft Auto V will be coming out in spring 2013.

“Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V takes place in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California in the largest and most thriving game-world we have ever created set in the sprawling city of Los Santos and for miles beyond – from the tops of the mountains to the depths of the ocean”.

Rockstar confirmed the release window for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but no word was given on whether the PC or the Wii U will be getting a release. Rockstar also confirmed that pre-orders will start everywhere on the 5th of November.

We’re awaiting hotly anticipated news from Rockstar that we will hear about in November so stay tuned.

Source: Rockstar.

George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction, the home of the latest news, reviews and previews. You can find George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Be sure to follow the OFFICIALAnalog Addiction Twitter as well!