Tigerprince Radio

You would imagine the suits at Hollywood close movie deals in top-secret meetings, but Jeff Katz, Vice President at New Line Cinema, has revealed he put together the Gears of War movie deal over Xbox Live. Katz told MTV:

“I do business on Xbox Live. When I was at New Line, I put the ‘Gears of War‘ deal together for the movie over Xbox Live,” said Katz. “It’s been good to me, so I’m loyal to it.”

The Gears of War film is being co-financed and co-produced by Legendary Pictures. Len Wiseman is directing with Chris Morgan writing the script. First draft was penned by Stuart Beattie.

A Kansas gamer has accused Harmonix, publisher MTV and its owner Viacom, along with distributor Electronic Arts that the companies purposely shipped defective bass drum pedals pedals in order to encourage upgrades to Rock Band 2’s improved drum kit. A Harmonix / MTV Games spokesperson provided the following statement:

“Harmonix and MTV Games are dedicated to consumers having an outstanding experience with our products. When used as directed, our drum pedals are designed to provide years of enjoyment. In addition, at the launch of Rock Band we offered consumers an extended opportunity return defective or broken hardware for any reason whatsoever–no questions asked. This litigation is opportunistic and baseless.”

The long running video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly is all but doomed, its publisher said today.

According to Jason Young, CEO of the magazine’s ailing publisher, Ziff Davis, the magazine might not last to see its 20th anniversary next summer.

This would be the second Ziff Davis magazine to get the ax in as many weeks. Earlier this week, the publisher eliminated the print version of PC Magazine, which had been on newsstands for more than 20 years. An online-only strategy might also work for EGM, the exec said.

According to an article in the New York Times, Young blamed rising costs and decreased advertising as reasons for the closing of PC Magazine (and presumably EGM, should it occur).

Microsoft said Monday that it expects Xbox 360 sales to reach 25 million and surpass the original Xbox by the end of November.

The apprentice has become the master today, as Microsoft revealed it expects Xbox 360 sales to surpass the original Xbox by the end of November.

The tally sits at 25 million units, and it’s a milestone whose important was not lost on Microsoft’s Chris Lewis.

“We’ve already surpassed the installed base of the original Xbox  which is a really significant milestone. We’ve been blown away by the appetite of people to consumer digital entertainment experiences,” said Chris Lewis, Microsoft VP of Interactive Entertainment Business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in an interview with Edge.

Even more noteworthy is the fact that the Xbox 360 hit the mark faster than its predecessor. The next gen system took three years while the original needed five to reach the same amount.

Earlier this year, the producer of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead filed suit against Capcom, claiming the zombies-in-a-mall action game Dead Rising ripped off the classic 1979 horror film. However, once the complaint got before a judge, the producer’s case fell apart like the rotting, fleshy husks at the still-beating heart of the dispute.

Last month, United States Magistrate Judge Richard Seeborg granted Capcom’s motion to dismiss the suit, saying that The MKR Group (the producer’s company) “has not identified any similarity between Dead Rising and any protected element of Dawn of the Dead. Rather, the few similarities MKR has alleged are driven by the wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak.”

Those who have played Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts must have been surprised when The Lord of the Games (aka LOG) said the following line:

They’re all in the pipeline, you know. New Killer Instinct, Battleloads and Jet Force Gemini Games. Even Ghoulies 2. Oh, you’ll never believe that. I’ve ruined my own humorous jape.

Does that actually mean those anticipated Rare games will finally launch on Xbox 360? Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Rare teases us with unannounced games and this might be just a new cruel prank from the Microsoft-owned studio.

Street Fighter IV will launch for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 17. European gamers will get their hands on the game three days later on February 20. The game has been available in Japanese arcades since July, with a few cabinets popping up in various US coin-ops since August.

Street Fighter IV is both a departure from and a return to the series’ roots. The game eschews the franchise’s classic 2D fighting formula in favor of stylized 3D visuals, but the roster of characters includes the entire original cast of Capcom’s Street Fighter II, as well as a number of new additions.

US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - OCTOBER 2008
Software: $697M (+35%)
Hardware: $495M (+5%)
Accessories: $120M (-8%)
Total Games: $1.31B (18%)

TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - OCTOBER 2008
Wii–803,000
Nintendo DS–491,000
Xbox 360–371,000
PlayStation Portable–193,000
PlayStation 3–190,000
PlayStation 2–136,000

TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - OCTOBER 2008
Title / Publisher / Units*
1 ) Fable II (Xbox 360) / Microsoft / 790,000
2 ) Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (WII) / Nintendo / 487,000
3 ) Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) / Bethesda Softworks / 375,000
4 ) Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel (WII) / Nintendo / 290,000
5 ) Wii Play w/ Remote (WII) / Nintendo / 282,000
6 ) Saints Row 2 (Xbox 360) / THQ / 270,000
7 ) SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation (PS3) / Sony / 231,000
8 ) Little Big Planet (PS3) / Sony / 215,000
9 ) NBA 2K9 (360) / Take-Two Interactive / 202,000
10 ) Dead Space (360) / Electronic Arts / 193,000

The issues, listed on the official Gears of War forums, include the biggest headache of all; slow multiplayer matchmaking.

“This is an issue that’s affecting some folks, and Epic and Microsoft are both looking into it,” said Epic’s community manager. “I’ll let you know more details as I have them.”

Other bugs include difficulty accessing the freebie downloadable content such as the 48-hour LIVE trial, Flashback Map Pack, and the Golden Lancer, most of which that are fixed or properly explained on the above forum page.

Gears of War 2 designer Cliff Bleszinski alluded to existing bugs, when he told us in the November issue of GamePro, “We may need to tweak a few things in multiplayer after release through an update. People are going to find exploits we didn’t anticipate. That’s the reality of making a game.”

In an interview with UK publication GamesIndustry.biz, Epic Games president Mike Capps said, “I’ve talked to some developers who are saying, ‘If you want to fight the final boss, go online and pay $20. But if you buy the retail version of the game, you get it for free.’”

The statement comes as some publishers and developers frown upon used-game sales, even though the practice is legal and standard with other retail products. Capps even says his company has a policy that no employees buy used games. “We have a rule at Epic that we don’t buy any used games, because this is how we make our money and how all our friends in the industry make money.”

In an effort to keep retailers like GameStop from turning a profit on second-hand sales, publishers like Epic, EA, and Harmonix have begun offering downloadable incentives and exclusives to factory sealed purchasers in an effort to encourage players to buy new. Digital distribution, already used by smaller downloadable games, is increasingly becoming a viable solution to cut the middle-man and retain a larger portion of the profits.