Phew, yesterday’s Final Fantasy Remix album cover? Man, that was brutal. My eyes still hurt at the mere thought of looking at that! This, this right here is quite nice. Here is the CD cover art for The World Ends with You CD soundtrack, which is also getting an iTunes release. It goes on sale next month.
Side note: Shame that this game didn’t do better.
Subarashiki Kono CD [Famitsu]
Peter Moore isn’t just a game exec. He is a rocker. And as a rocker, he knows the importance of things like Rock Band. And what is that?
It really came home for me when we were in Munich for our global marketing meeting and we took over the Hard Rock Café for the night and had a Rock Band competition… There were a hundred of us and it was like a real rock concert. It was a blast. I stood back and I thought that this was an incredible cultural phenomenon… The crowd were going wild, but all we were doing was playing on toy guitars, toy drums and singing badly into a microphone. Now the beer might have had something to do with it, I don’t know, but it was a great social thing. And I said, ‘Boy, this product is going to change the way we think about games.’
Boy was he right! Rock Band also changed the ways game execs can embarrass themselves at E3 press conferences.
Peter Moore Interview [CVG via videogaming247][Pic]
Yesterday, Itagaki vs. Tecmo commenced with Itagaki’s lawyer submitting into evidence the contract he had supporting his completion bonus for Xbox 360 title Dead or ALive 4. Tecmo’s lawyers submitted a somewhat identical-looking contract, differing in that it did not support Itagaki’s claims that he was entitled to a completion bonus. Hrm. Someone it seems is lying, and other evidence seems to indicate that Tecmo isn’t exactly being truthful about overtime — which is a totally separate case altogether.
Anthony Puzo – son of Mario Puzo, author and creator of the Godfather – has begun legal proceedings against Paramount Pictures, accusing them of stiffing him over royalty payments he’s owed in connection with the recent Godfather game. Puzo says that a deal was struck between his father and Paramount in 1992, whereby the now-deceased series creator (and by succession, his kids) would receive a “significant share of the revenue of any audio-visual products” associated with the Godfather, but then accuses Paramount of failing to “pay the Puzo Estate the sums due it in respect of the Godfather game”. I don’t know what Paramount are getting at, but if I was dealing with the family of the guy who created the Godfather, I would not mess with their money, and I would not mess with their respect.
Sony is rarin’ to crack down on PSP piracy. According to Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe bossman David Reeves, PSP piracy is a global problem, and that’s bad. But Reeves also points out that piracy is pushing PSP sales, and we guess that’s good. Here’s what David has to say:
There is a piracy problem on PSP. We know about it, we know how it’s done. It sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales, but on balance we are not happy about it.
Plus, minus, frowny faces. We’re sure David Reeves will get this all figured out. JUST YOU WATCH, BUSTER!
There Is A Piracy Problem [MCVUK]
The upcoming issue of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu has the first details about the Raiden IV home port. The game will be hitting the Xbox 360 and will feature the standard arcade game, plus two new stages, LIVE and the ability to share replay saves with online buddies. There’s even an option for vertical (“tate”) for those with swivel arm HD TVs who want that true vertical shooting experience. Game shoots up Japanese Xbox 360s this September.
First Raiden IV 360 Details [Arcade Renaissance]
Via Newsweek comes word that Electronic Arts mainstay Neil Young has left the company for a yet unnamed “new project.” During his 11-year run at EA, Young managed Maxis during Sims 2, lent his talents to games like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and headed up EA Los Angeles, where he supervised Medal of Honor and Boom Blox. Recently, Young was heading up small-team-focused EA Blueprint, which will now be headed up by Westwood Studios founder Louis Castle. Hit the jump for the internal EA email describing Young’s departure.
OK. We get it. You like the Spore Creature Creator. Just don’t like it too much too soon, OK? It’s poor form to gorge yourself on garlic bread before the main course arrives. I say this because, having just popped on to have a little browse on the Sporepedia, I see there are already over 350,000 creatures on there, a number that’ll already be higher by the time you read this. Really, 350,000? Don’t you all have, like, jobs?
Why didn’t you enjoy Haze? If you’ve actually played it, and aren’t just accepting that the game’s a load of crap because the internet told you so, feel free to watch this week’s episode of Zero Punctuation and choose from one of dozens of reasons Yahtzee catalogues to agree with. Oh, and if you’re wondering why the video progress bar is only 2/3 of the way through when ZP finishes, don’t. Just…press stop right away.
Zero Punctuation: Haze [The Escapist]
