In Other News...April 5

[DoctorFinger]

- Former Witcher 2 producer Tomasz Gop and developer Deck13 have announced a new RPG project under the imaginative codename Project RPG. The multiplatform title - set for a 2013 release - is set in a world where the corpse of a fallen god forms a mountain range which divides the world both physically and philosophically. The skill-based combat is described as a cross between Dark Souls and Batman Arkham City.

- CD Projekt RED announced some Witcher news at their spring conference. Witcher 1 is coming to the Mac starting today. For Witcher 2 fans, anyone who already owns the game will be able to download a free back-up copy of the game at GOG.com. They'll also be able to start pre-loading the Enhanced Edition patch for free on April 11, ahead of the patch's launch April 17.

- Ubisoft will be launching the Ghost Recon Network, a stat tracking and social extension of the Ghost Recon universe. Much like Activision's Call of Duty Elite and EA's Battlelog. The Ghost Recon Network will launch on May 22, alongside Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

- Nintendo and Square say that Kingdom Hearts 3D will be released in North America on July 31. Set your schedule accordingly.

- Wow. Speaking at an MIT conference on Business in Gaming, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says that THQ "won't be around in 6 months" due partly to their over reliance on licensed properties. THQ of course disagrees, calling Zelnick's comments "irresponsible and false".

[Xerxes]

THQ is right. UDraw is what screwed them over. They have several of their own IP.

[MagGnome]

That Witcher 2 news is great. Kudos to CD Projekt Red for being so wonderful!

[Pale Ale]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

- Wow. Speaking at an MIT conference on Business in Gaming, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says that THQ "won't be around in 6 months" due partly to their over reliance on licensed properties. THQ of course disagrees, calling Zelnick's comments "irresponsible and false".

Yeah I know, they still have to do the Chapter 11 dance! That will take at least an extra fiscal quarter!

[Deadend]

Doesn't 2K have a nice pile of non-original IPs?

[J Arcane]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

THQ is right. UDraw is what screwed them over. They have several of their own IP.

And at least one of their licensed IP is one that's making them like half their money.

Zelnick is a fucking idiot. This is a guy who runs a company that's been perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy for like 10 years, despite producing one of the single most profitable and popular game series in the fucking world.

Take-Two taking pot shots at a company for bankruptcy troubles isn't the pot calling the kettle black, it's the pot laughing at the other pot for being used to cook something.

Fucking retard.

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by Deadend

Doesn't 2K have a nice pile of non-original IPs?

I don't think 2K cares about original IP. As long as they aren't licensing it. Which is kind of true.

But he's talking about the old THQ when he's bashing them. I say old but that only goes back as far as last gen. Although they do still print WWE games and have the license for 40k Warhammer games, they've really been focusing on developing there own IP.

While I thought they were stupid as shit to sell Big Huge Games (proven right?); they looked decent in 2009. Then they go to work on 40K MMO and Udraw and here we are.

"Hey this Space Marine just did gangbusters! Sequel?"
"Fuck that, lets dump money into a MMO."

Is WoW even doing that great? I mean they are probably still cream of the crop but I doubt they are as awesome as there were in there heyday. MMOs just ain't the cash cows they use to be.

Originally Posted by J Arcane

And at least one of their licensed IP is one that's making them like half their money.

Zelnick is a fucking idiot. This is a guy who runs a company that's been perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy for like 10 years, despite producing one of the single most profitable and popular game series in the fucking world.

Take-Two taking pot shots at a company for bankruptcy troubles isn't the pot calling the kettle black, it's the pot laughing at the other pot for being used to cook something.

Fucking retard.

Without Rockstar, they would probably have went belly up by now.

Which license are you talking about?

[J Arcane]

Which license are you talking about?

40K has been a pretty consistent top seller for them.

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

40K has been a pretty consistent top seller for them.

That's true. This MMO that's no longer a MMO could throw that out of whack too now.

As long as Darksiders 2 makes it out the gate right?

[Widgetcraft]

I actually took a look back at what 2k Games had published in 2011 and... it wasn't all that great. Other than re-releases and DLC it boils down to like Top Spin 4, Duke Nukem Forever, Nicktoons MLB (hey, because that's not licensed) and Carnival Games: Wild West 3D. I think I'm missing some because it doesn't list L.A. Noire, but seriously... not that great.

THQ, on the other hand, have been publishing some fantastic games in the past few years. I hope they get their shit together.

[menage]

2K has Bioshock this year. That will sell buckets.
Then there's Borderlands 2 and Spec ops. Xcom. Pretty decent line-up imo.

I'm super excited about the "Project RPG" thing. More dark fantasy Dark Souls style games, hell yeah.

[Fubl]

Your forgetting a major license for 2k the nba it moves units.

[muddi900]

That Project RPG games sounds exactly like Witcher 2, which is awesome!

[DoctorFinger]

Take-Two's biggest strength is it's catalog of original IPs. Bioshock, Civilization, Borderlands, Mafia, XCOM, GTA, Red Dead, Max Payne, LA Noire. That's why every year or so there's a rumor that they're about to be bought out by one of the big boys. They own a lot of successful IPs that they're not - as far as the big publishers are concerned - exploiting fully (ie, there's not a GTA and a Bioshock every 12 months). Take-Two was in worse shape a few years back - for a while any year without a GTA was in the red - but they've gotten much stronger in recent years. 2011 was a relatively light year for releases, but 2012 looks stacked.

THQ on the other hand has only 3 original IPs of any consequence active at the moment: Saints' Row, Darksiders and Homefront. Red Faction is on the shelf and UDraw was a disaster that may still bring the company down. Everything else they publish - WWE, UFC, Metro, Warhammer - is a licensed property. And Zelnick is right in that regard, the more successful a line based on a license is, the more you'll be paying for that license. Maybe the new IPs they're developing will be great, but right now they're in a bad place.

But Zelnick was still a massive dick for saying what he did. He could have spoken in general terms about the perils of relying on licenses, but he deliberately took a shot at another publisher that's not in a great financial position seemingly out of pure spite.

[The Iron Weasel]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

- CD Projekt RED announced some Witcher news at their spring conference. Witcher 1 is coming to the Mac starting today. For Witcher 2 fans, anyone who already owns the game will be able to download a free back-up copy of the game at GOG.com. They'll also be able to start pre-loading the Enhanced Edition patch for free on April 11, ahead of the patch's launch April 17.

This makes me so absurdly happy. CD Projekt Red knows how to treat their customers. I am now a CD Projekt Red groupie.

[Zero]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

- Nintendo and Square say that Kingdom Hearts 3D will be released in North America on July 31. Set your schedule accordingly.

Great news, I wasn't expecting it until fall.

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

TAnd Zelnick is right in that regard, the more successful a line based on a license is, the more you'll be paying for that license.

Tell that to EA and Madden.

[Abyssion]

Originally Posted by Zero

Great news, I wasn't expecting it until fall.

Same here, I wasn't expecting it till way later. I'm glad about the turn around time on it.

[MagGnome]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

Is WoW even doing that great? I mean they are probably still cream of the crop but I doubt they are as awesome as there were in there heyday. MMOs just ain't the cash cows they use to be.

WoW is still pulling well over $100 million a month. It's doing very well, even if the subscriber numbers have fallen from their peak.

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

WoW is still pulling well over $100 million a month. It's doing very well, even if the subscriber numbers have fallen from their peak.

Yep, that's not it's heyday. Wonder how TOR is fairing.