They're licking all the copies of Rock Band they're shipping... they don't have TIME for anything else...

F*cking morons...

Enigma_20XX

Wow, who is at the helm over at Activision? They choose Crash Bandicoot over Ghostbusters & Brutal Legend?

Talk about being out of touch with your consumers!

resvrgam

Bad title! I was all confused at how it could be cancelled, and yet would never be (ie exist)

el_benito

I'm confused. I mean, am I missing something? It's Ghostbusters. It has to at least make some money based on the franchise alone. I guess *cough* EA could pick up the slack. Unless there's trouble in ghost paradise I'm not aware of.

Anarchist_Gamer

I just can't fucking believe that Activision is stupid enough to pass on Brutal Legend and Ghosters. Well their loss I guess, if they'd rather put out another craptastic Crash game ... then let them enjoy their crap.

Maybe EA might be interested in publishing?

dead_red_eyes

All I know is that death is but a door. Time is but a window. I'll be back. If that's not an indication that this game will make it to us then I don't know what is.

twilightfox008

Give me Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters, Activision. You can keep your Ice Age shit.

HaydenTenno

I know movie games usually suck, and sequels sell well in games... but to cut loose a highly anticipated Ghostbusters game and keep the umpteenth Crash sequel I won't buy just doesn't make sense.

zacshipley

ghostbusters is a game that i have wanted ever since seeing the first screenies and video....so publishers take note

crash bandicoot has been dead for a long time..last good game he was in was crash team racing on the PS1

if this situation was the other way round i could understand it...but whichever publisher..needs to jump on ghostbusters quick,it looks like its gonna be a classic(especially if its an unofficial ghostbusters 3 from what i have heard)

metallicorphan

@Mikintosh: Unfortunately. I suppose their theory is it's alright to keep beating a dead horse, as long as there's some sort of flow of cash involved.

B33

They're STILL making Crash Bandicoot games?

Mikintosh

they need to get rid of it.

but, they've already come so far....well....far enough

chaos_isnt_here

@Shrimp: Ditto. I've been waiting for some updates on a release date - never thought it may end up getting shit-canned.

Twisk

I'm gonna take back some of the things I said about you, Sentaiman.

*pulls out a candy bar*

You... You've earned it.

Shiryu

It's sad that a game like this can't get a publisher, but that extreme food eating game for the Wii can

Shin-san

@MSUSteve: I /am/ buying the Wii and 360 versions, and quite probably the DS one as well, and I was even considering the PC version as well if it ran so I could record all the destruction and such.

As for a publisher, I think that anyone would be eager to snap this up due to all the positive reviews and such its been getting, but thank God it hasn't been canceled.

Ashkihyena

It makes no sense to cut Ghostbusters loose. The IP is a pop culture selling machine, and the game itself has gotten nothing but good things said about it after E3 and Comic Con... I have to believe that the game will be snapped up by a new publisher very quickly. I just hope it still makes it's October release date - I'm slowly going insane waiting to bust ghosts along with my favorite heroes.

And besides, for the new publisher, the franchise right alone will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams...

AngryEddy

@Sentaiman: Ok thank you for the clarification.

Pornosaur

@Pornosaur:

I did not state is was easier to develop for the PS3, but it is easier to port from the PS3 to the 360 than it is from the 360 to the PS3.

Sentaiman

@FredThePanda:

The last part was a joke.
I guess my Sarcasm needs work, XD.

BTW, im 22, and while i only own a PS3, i respect peoples choice to like other systems.

But, back on Topic, I needs me Ghostbusters!

I own both movies, i have Download Both Cartoon series (The good one, "The Real..." and the not so good one "Extreme"). All i need is this game and the Upcoming CGI Movie and im set.

Sentaiman

@Shiryu: Thats what I heard!

Shiryu

@Kanik: Do you think someone else besides you and me noticed I just called him dickless?

Shiryu

@Shiryu: Yes. It's true...this man has no dick.

Kanik

Well hopefully some other publisher will pick the game up so that could be a silver lining to this Activision cloud.

Also Massive Entertainment (Ground Control, World in Conflict) who were bought by Sierra so are an internal studio facing sale/axe have some semi-positive news;

[www.massgate.net]

Jellocakes

@WhiskeyJak: How correct you are! I love how there is no offical word or press release about the game not being published by Activision Blizzard and everyone is so quick to cry about it. They only mentioned they were adding the Spyro and Crash to the line up.

Boudabras

I hope Take Two gets the rights for Ghostbusters plus the other games. This way T2 can have more games under there belt so it will be harder for EA to get them.

BlackIceJoe

I actually hope that EA or THQ or someone picks up this title. Everyone I know was looking forward to it.

Boozerz

@Sentaiman: ...you work for the Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA), right?

Shiryu

Do what you will with Brutal Legend , Activision. Terrible sounding premise by a terribly overrated by internet game nerds designer. Just leave Ghostbusters the fuck alone.

vaporlock

Sadly, the game industry is about business just like, well, every other business. It sucks donkey balls, just like capitalism has always sucked donkey balls.

darbonne

Kanik,if someone asks if you are a god, you say, "yes!"

Shiryu

@Pornosaur: The PS3 is not easier to develop for, but some developers had said that with the PS3 as the lead platform, it is easier to port to PC and 360, than the other way around.

A few searches on 1Up and IGN will give you specific developers who said it. The one that comes to mind initially is Criterion with Burnout Paradise.

TheAngryHeretic

@Shiryu: Only a Carpathian would come back to life now and choose New York!

Kanik

Wait, the game doesn't have a publisher yet? What sort of conspiracy deal is this? I mean, if I was a publisher, I'd be all over the Ghostbusters game like a fat kid on tatter tots. So someone better publish this thing already... I want my tatter tots and unlicensed nuclear particle accelerators!

Salen

I'm just worried about what's happening to Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena :-(

Shrimp

Good - because if it were abruptly cancelled like Sam & Max 2 once was, I'd have to hurt my computer something awful.

@Sentaiman: It's called the 'FatBox Three-Six-Zero', if you're going to take up hypocorism then at least do so properly. ;D

humongous_mouse

@Pornosaur: That's what I thought immediately. It has to be a money issue.

This game is going to receive a huge amount of press. I'm not talking about Kotaku or Gamespot either - think more along the lines of New York Times (the actual paper), front page of Yahoo, possibly a segment on Entertainment Tonight, etc.

This game is going to be seen as a faithful movie sequel brought to gaming. People made a huge fuss over movies going from live-action to CGI, this is going to be seen as the next step because of the talent behind it. Activision would need a great reason to not get in on this.

Kanik

We all know if they canned the game, we would have fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

Shiryu

EA always receives a lot of hate but they've really started to turn things around. Activision, on the other hand, has become a much more bottom line numbers type of publisher. If your game is being published by Activision and it doesn't have Call of Duty or Guitar Hero in the title you better be prepared to justify it's existence, well, unless your Blizzard.

FelixLighter

If I was a stockholder in Activision this decision would probably be a good indicator to me that its time to sell. Luckily I do not own any Activision.

SeannyFunco

You can tell the genius's at Activision don't take stock in the future of the "hand picked" properties they've chosen to publish.If they were to do a survey of gamers(real gamers, not a soccer mom and her 8 year old brat), they'd quickly realize that any future Crash Bandicoot game is likely to do mediocre at BEST and that the upcomign Ghostbuster's game has been receiving some VERY hot press,positive early reviews of the game/gameplay, and is VERY eagerly anticipated by gamers who own the PS3,360, and or boh systems.

I guess it only goes to show Activision is out of touch with the very people who they desperately want to buy their games.Those people being GAMERS(18-45).

Sugaray

@Sentaiman: Where exactly did you come across the information that the PS3 is a lot easier to develop for than the PC or the Xbox 360? I've always heard the exact opposite myself.

Pornosaur

Not claiming to be an expert at all in the dealings of dev companies with publishers, but could it be strictly contractual issues? With a lot of "Big Named" Hollywood types involved with this project, it's almost certain they are going to see a percentage of the games overall total sales. Which means less money to go around than on a normal game. Maybe Activison didn't see a big enough profit margin to invest in publishing this game. I still think the game will sell, but until a demo it would be hard to guess at how much. A lack of really in depth gameplay previews a month or so out release date has me somewhat cautiously optimistic about it.

Pornosaur

Seems kind of stupid to me, I mean I've been pretty excited over the new Ghostbusters game as well, and would rather have it than any amount of Spyro and Crash games. I guess they sell to the family image and younger gamers, but seriously beyond the 12 and under crowd who is going to run out and buy Crash or Spyro? Not me at least.

Dullshimmer

Sure movie games are usually crap, but that is because most movie games are made to coincide with'cash in on the release of a movie in the theater, meaning that the time spent to make the game is usually not very long. It is more of a money making tool.

The Ghostbusters game does not fit into that scheme at all.

I do hope this comes out. If it doesn't...Dogs and Cats. Living together! Mass hysteria!

suburbancowboy

Why would any publisher in their right mind not want to publish Ghostbusters? It looks true to the franchise and is about as true as it's going to get with Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd writing as well as starring in it alongside Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson. You've got a guaranteed seller if I ever saw one, everyone loves Ghostbusters!

Whoever does publish this probably won't regret it. Activision on the other hand...

Absent Blue

@Jubbers: Maybe they decided to cancel publishing and spend that budget on more boothbabes instead.

stoneagedan

Of course it is not canceled, everybody with half a brain would have realized that.

If Activision Blizzard aren't interested in Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend, I'm pretty sure that other publishers will be willing to jump on the opportunity to publish them like flies on hot shit.

GB is a sure hit and BL has the potential to be a hit (with good aggressive marketing)and give the would-be publisher a lot of "street cred".

WhiskeyJak

Activision just showed off the Ghostbusters game at San Diego Comic-Con last week. Complete with ghost-busting booth babes. That hardly sounds like they're not planning on publishing it.

Jubbers

Hmmm... I'd hate to see the shit fly if either MS or Sony pick up the publishing rights... Can't see it happening mind...

winstano

@duckmouth: I wasn't taking a shot at you? That was all sarcasm, I was implying that it is actually unproductive for him to spend his evenings being a half-assed troll.

Aye Mak Sicur

@Aye Mak Sicur: Why are you taking a shot at me? It took less than a minute to check his history. And what does being productive have to do with anything? Anyway, that's the last I'll say on the matter; I have some important and productive things to do, like make a ham & cheese sandwich. Good day sir.

duckmouth

I read this one of two ways. Either:

1) Activision think it's shit - and it very well could be.

2) They don't think it will sell. It must be remembered that the last GB movie was made in 1989. The teenage demographic that this game will be aimed at weren't born then. Ghostbusters has less relevance to them that it does to the 25-35 age group. However, saying that, I'm 27 and loved Ghostbusters back in the day, and am not remotely bothered by this game. Maybe this is the conclusion Activision have come to: that it's simple not as big a franchise as people think.

Although, I could be wrong and it could sell a gazillion copies for whichever publisher eventually picks it up.

Luckyjim

@TheAngryHeretic: You may be right, they may just have looked at the numbers for all previous Crash games and said "We'll have some of that". I could do an amusing parody of how the boardroom meeting may have went (and hence gained a nomination for Comments Of The Week) but I can't be arsed :)

duckmouth

@duckmouth: But spending your evenings running a half-assed troll on the internet is so *productive*!

Aye Mak Sicur

If this gets cancelled, maybe they can make a game based on the "Be Kind, Rewind" version of Ghostbusters.

ChimDeathmonkey

@Sentaiman: Jesus, what a trolling fanboy... has anyone read this guy's comment history? Check out this gem:

"SHIT. Microsuck's strikes again with there underhanded bribing of developers. The 360 is still garabge, and anyone who owns one should be killed."

Where for art thou, Witzbold? (Or Spoony Bard, if he has started his new role yet)

duckmouth

@duckmouth: I'd be willing to bet that is pretty close to what they did. They see these old hits that sold very well in their prime, and want to bring them back to get the old fans.

Activision, much like EA, will bleed a franchise to death with sequel after sequel, with very few new games to publish. This, is just them showing more and more, that they would rather milk the franchise, than develop new games.

Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend are day 1 purchases for me.

TheAngryHeretic

@Sentaiman:
I'm not sure if that last part of your post was a joke but if it was it weren't funny and it wasn't then i think you either need to a take a step back and look at your life and your priorities or just wait until you turn 14 and you'll be more interested in girls then crying yourself to sleep every night because Phil Harrison left you.

Back to the story at hand, it seems a bit weird that they'd not publish a game this late in the development cycle considering they most of all ready spent a hefty amount of money to get it this far. Could they maybe know something about it overall that we don't?

FredThePanda

Does this mean that Activision saw the game in action and didn't like the look of it? I guess so. I'd be surprised if they just looked at a big list if games and circled the ones they want to publish.

duckmouth

@Sentaiman: Do Sony love you as much as you love them?

Having developers fight to keep their games in development is ridiculous. It should be obvious which games are worth publishing. The whole thing comes off as a power trip.

Aye Mak Sicur

Great job not picking a game people are actually hyped for.

Quicksilver4648

What does it say when you are owned by a publisher, and said publisher will not publish your game? Sounds like some internal strife.

TheAngryHeretic

Man you guys are fools. I've been praying to God for a new Crash Bandicoot game. I mean if I had to choose what I wanted to spend $60 bucks on more I would totally choose a game starring a crudely drawn bandicoot looking for gems instead of hunting down translucent ghosts. I mean come on people, ghosts! GHOSTS! Who want's to hunt down ghosts and trap them like their favorite 80's action heroes. Not me.

GHETTO.CHiLD

OK, so Ghost Busters is safe, but what about Tim Schafer's latest masterpiece? I wants some Brutal Legend!

Demaar

Well, its too big of a game (Fanbase wise) to just cancel this far into Development (its still slated to come out in October i hope).

With Dan and Harold Writing the story, along with them, Bill, Ernie and Annie coming back to do their voices, and pretty positve feedback from the Comic-Con Booth (and not just for the GB babes ether), this is a must by on my list.

And Serria is a smart cookie by making the PS3 the platform its being devoulped on, then porting it to the Suckbox Three-Six-Zero and PC. It's alot easier and we Devote Sony Fan's don't get screwed like we always have with Multiplatform games.

All other version's can go to hell for all i care, I just want to play GB on my Holy PS3, God of all Consoles.

Sentaiman

Crash makes the cut, but not Ghostbusters? WTF, Activision? Not smart. Ghostbusters is guaranteed to sell way more than the next 3 Crash games combined.

Froggore

At the end of the day it's still just a movie game. And movie games are known for being... well, crap. On average they sell well, yes, but let's face it: Ghostbusters wasn't released last week -- I imagine that's why no one wants to pick it up.

We can dream.

Fallible

Maybe they'll publish if they bundle it with a unnecessary peripheral and $100 msrp.

KenogaBrave

Oh Activision. How I loathe your business decisions. I would say you are the new EA... but that might actually be unfair to EA, and that's saying a lot.

BtownDesignGuy

I can't even imagine a publisher dumb enough to not want to publish Ghostbusters. That game is going to be a smash hit. Hell, I'm going to buy both the 360 and Wii versions, and will consider the PSP and DS versions depending on how they turn out.

MSUSteve

ok, now come on Brutal Legend!

LuppyLuptonium

huzzah! I just read about the cuts on GI.biz and was a leetle worried for a second there...

The games got me really interested so fingers crossed it still makes it out!

elronathon

@Enigma_20XX: EA handles Rock Band, not Activision.

B33

I am more worried about Brutal Legend.

hagridore

Activision is clearly run by fools. Just the other day, a friend of mine who doesn't even OWN a console told me that he was buying a PS3 in order to play Ghostbusters.

ThisCharmingMan

@hagridore: Not me, but to me, Activision is stupid for letting this one go to another publisher.

As Peter Venkman said "the franchise rights alone will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams." This game is going to sell no matter who publishes it, and that is that.

Ashkihyena

So...Crash Bandicoot makes the cut...but not games that actually look good?

urutapu

@AngryEddy: Oh, whoops, I wasn't paying much attention, and yeah, its hard to pick quotes since I'm sure all the ones that apply to this situation would already be used.

Ashkihyena

@Ashkihyena: The "franchise rights" quote was already used. This could complicate the competition here to use as many original Ghostbusters quotes as possible... May I suggest "no job is too big, no fee is too big"?

AngryEddy

Sony comes to swoop it up since they co-own the IP

DevonTheDude

Good news for sure. The first movie is one of my favorites and I'm really interested to see how they do this.

BigRiff

@DevonTheDude: Hopefully, Sony does own the Ghostbusters IP anyways, so why not have them publish the game? To me, that'd only make sense.

Ashkihyena

y not I want it to be cancelled

ShadowScale