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View Full Version : Previously on Colony of Gamers [12/22 - 12/28]


fitbabits
12-28-2008, 02:57 PM
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The man in this case is, of course, Saint Nick, who by all accounts was good to a large percentage of our readers. Plenty of food, plenty of games, plenty of beverages (both alcoholic and non-), and just the right amount of family. And it seems like it came along at just the right time for some, given the bleak economic and unemployment figures.

As the saying goes, there's no rest for the wicked, which means that your beloved CoG staff were still on the ball as far as news was concerned. Granted, there wasn't a whole lot as most places were closed for the holidays. In any case, here's this past week's wrap-up:

While not exactly news, we posted our hands-on impressions of EA's upcoming The Godfather II (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=3890). As you'll read, it looks like this may be another in the increasingly long list of impressive titles emerging from Electronic Arts. I'm sure they'll be there or thereabouts come the many end-of-year awards for Publisher of the Year. I know they get my vote, which is remarkable all things considered.

A publisher bound NOT to win if the community witterings are to be believed is Activision, who this week released details and the first trailer for the upcoming Guitar Hero Metallica (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=3865). I'm unhappy to report that Lar Ulrich is still a little tool - there's no amount of computer generated jiggery-pokery that can fix that.

Sticking with Guitar Hero, Activision announced details of their Hard Rock and Reggae Rock DLC for Guitar Hero World Tour (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=3947). And there was (not) much rejoicing.

Given the popularity of so-called music games, you'll no doubt be astounded to learn that artists actually earn more from the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band than they do from more traditional means (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=3854) (record sales, etc.).

If only RPGs were as popular as music games, then. Sadly that's not the case, as evidenced by Capcom announcing that they were stopping development of role-playing games, including the much-loved Breath of Fire series (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=3879).

All is not lost, though, as Nintendo and Square-Enix announced a special Echoes of Time-edition Nintendo DSi. I'm reliably informed that the Nintendo DSi is the handheld that actually gives you money back thanks to a unique deal with Nintendo's banking HQ.

Our pals and Network partners over at Co-Optimus (http://www.cooptimus.com) reminded us all of just how great 2008 was for those of a cooperative bent (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=3918). And would you lookie there - it was, indeed, a great co-op year.

And that's about it for this week's wrap-up. I hope you all had a wonderful week with friends and family. Don't forget Hogmanay, though - I won't.

Spigot
12-28-2008, 07:54 PM
As much as the news of a company outright saying they're killing development of a given genre, Capcom hadn't been cranking out RPGs for a little while now. Now, if they killed off their adventure game division, there would be blood.

And I never thought it would happen, but Activision has firmly and proudly taken the crown of biggest douchebag from EA, who have actually redeemed themselves in most people's eyes. Can you imagine telling people about a year or two that they'd actually look to EA for innovation while some other company blatantly announced their plans to run franchises into the ground? You would have been laughed off the internet.

Happy early new year to everyone!

MagGnome
12-29-2008, 10:34 AM
I actually thought that UbiSoft would take over the title of worst publisher if EA ever stepped up their game, but it seems that Activision has grabbed that honor instead.

As for JRPGs, I think certain people have placed way too much stock in Capcom's announcement. Capcom was/is hardly known for their RPGs. Some people are just too quick to declare Japan irrevalent.

Purple Santa
12-30-2008, 02:51 PM
Some people are just too quick to declare Japan irrevalent.
That's because they discount the Nintendo Wii ;). A mistake...but never the less...it's done.