I'm still skeptical of EA, but publishing the future Mass Effect games combined with the possibility of Brutal Legend is going a long way towards getting on my good side.

nitroblast

@Pattypie: But who cares about Brutal Legend, what about Ghostbusters?!

Yes, I'm doing what everyone did when a Ghostbusters thread popped up, personally, I couldn't care about the Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters is the game I want.

Ashkihyena

@Ashkihyena: Brutal Legends! Woo!

I'm looking forward to it, I just looked at the website and the premise of the game and everything just amazed me in a way. That and the music made me happy and nostalgic. SCREAMING, SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE.

Pattypie

@Mr.Monkey: double fine has talked about using the guitar controller for this game before.

Grumpz®

now i thouhgt this would happen earlier today, when i saw an article about MTV publishing the game. I thought 'hang on Rockband was published by EA so if it dosnt get published by MTV it would go to them'.

odd! while im still going to get this game adn i love TS work but i cant stand Jack Black.

lost_in_hollywood

@Ashkihyena: Now that I got that out of my system, hopefully EA pick up Ghostbusters, and just publishes, nothing else since I don't want it full of bugs that I come to know and hate with the Sims franchise.

Ashkihyena

That should.... do good for the game I guess. Its surprising how even if the game is published by EA.. people(random folks in public places) speak of the game as "by EA" as in Made by them..

So taking this as an advantage.. they should try getting as many good and unique games' publishing rights as possible!

Reetesh

I had feeling this was what was going to happen. Now will EA do the PS3 port if Gabe spreads his hateraid to Shaffer? ;)

Gunloc

Who cares about Brutal Legend, what about Ghostbusters?!

Ashkihyena

EA is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers. No joke.

Muzykmann

@CHU BOI: You've got their sports division to blame for that. Personally, I don't pay attention to their (or anyone else's) sports games, so the EA I'm starting to enjoy again is the one that's publishing Rock Band, skate, Mirror's Edge, and Dead Space.

Altersparck

I think Kotaku need to swap out John Riccitiello's Darth Vader picture for a Spiderman one.

"Everybody gets one."

ThursdayNext

@DaiMacculate: a easter egg using a Guitar controller however would be all kinds of awesome

Mr.Monkey

Awww, EA's trying to wiggle its way back into our hearts! That's gonna be a tough on Riccitiello/Moore! Giving me the same damn FIFA from 2004 to 2007 and re-"introducing" new features you took out from FIFA 99/2000 didnt sit very well with me!

CHU BOI

@DaiMacculate: no its not a music game, its a adventure game using *ROCK* as a background...

Mr.Monkey

So alot of people were talking about tying the game somehow to Guitar Hero, does it get tied to Rock Band somehow (remember rumors there would be segments of the game where you would use a guitar controller) instead if EA does it? Or does MTV have to be more directly involved?

DaiMacculate

Ever since Activision dropped Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters (in favor of the powerhouse Crash Bandicoot franchise) I had a feeling EA would step in - not that it was a hard thought to come up with, mind you.

AngryEddy

Does this mean that EA starts releasing good games again?

Wow. Picture me amazed.

Barts

This would be another string in the bow, for the new *good* (lets return to 16 bit era form)EA...

Personally I could care less who publishes it just as long as it IS published...

Mr.Monkey

@Ashkihyena: Who cares about Ghostbusters, what about the children!?

Yeah, they should get a chance to play Ghostbusters too.

@topic: Well, as long as it comes out and EA doesn't fiddle with the quality, then that's cool.

Thorax

@chumpyman: Yeah, cause EA is going to change Brutal Legend from what it already is... *rolls eyes* Since Ricatello and crew have taken over, they've given the teams almost full creative freedom, which is a wonderful thing for the company.

HaydenTenno

Lets all take a step back and remeber what happened when EA had the oddworld series......

chumpyman

EA has every good reason to do this. First off, it's an instantly like-able game. Second, it's got Jack Black. Third, Double Fine works with the same agent as the Rock Band guys, Kojima, Will Wright, etc. etc. - it's in EA's best interest to reinforce that relationship.

With EA's marketing muscle and the game's awesomeness, this is an easy decision.

stevesan

@HaydenTenno:
Me too. They're putting their money where their mouth is. This makes a lot of sense really. EA has the marketing capacity to really push a Schaffer title. And Schaffer's brand brings the reputation of prestige and quality that EA has coveted this generation.

LanciePants

@AsylumEscapee: Oh my God, again with the polishing, its been in development since 2006, I don't think its going to get anymore polished then what it is, otherwise, I'll agree with what you said, it'd be a huge waste for the game not to get published.

Ashkihyena

If this is true, I'm willing to take back just about every negative comment I've ever made about EA.

Figment

@Barts: Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Mercs 2, Spore, Crysis Warhead? 2 are developed internally at EA, while 3 are developed by other publishers and developed by EA.

HaydenTenno

Brutal Legend looks pretty awesome and being that Schaffer is involved only makes it more intriguing. But, the prospects of using a plastic guitar doesn't appeal to me one bit.

Ghostbusters looks promising, but it still looks like it needs quite a bit of polishing. That said, they already have the whole cast (minus Moranis)on board, doesn't it seem like a waste of a lot of money and time to not publish this game?

AsylumEscapee

I rarely say things like this, but I actually hope that EA picks this up. A proper publisher will give a Schafer title the push it needs.

I worked for Double Fine for about a year during the Majesco publishing days and Senor Schafer is too much talent for a small publisher like that.

sascha23

<3 EA, they're doing a great job this gen.

HaydenTenno

@Boudabras: It'd definitly serve Activision right for dropping these two deals. Still can't believe that they did that, its insane.

Ashkihyena

Wow... somebody talked about this in the Celebrity Showdonw topic!!

Who's betting for a "Only PS3, 360 & PC" release? ;D

Chopper_Mike

I would have to laugh if EA ended up picking up those two franchises and they both made money oodles of money.

@Altersparck: That's what happens when you get dethroned! It lights a fire under your ass to make better games!

Boudabras

EA ARE GO!!!!!

excel_excel

I'm actually glad that EA has returned to being an actual "good" company now... if they pick this up, they shall definitely be on the good side.
@TRT-X: agreed.

cainxavier

I just hope they don't try and "add" to it.

Oban

PS: If that picture above ends up being the coverart, consider this bought right now.

TRT-X

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: As I said, if people kept from making comments in those threads, I'd be fine, and somehow, I doubt getting ahold of someone would do anything.

Yeah, this will be my last comment about that, but if it happens again, well, I don't know, but seriously, its something thats irritating and annoying.

@deadjesterx: Yeah, though EA still has its bad points, mainly SecuRom, if they wanted to be really publisher friendly, they'd ditch the SecuRom and fast.

Ashkihyena

@deadjesterx: It takes more work to climb back up to the top of the podium than it does to sit up there and look down on everybody else. ;)

TRT-X

@Mr.Monkey: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: EA and Activision are going through role reversals.

EA is becoming the gamer-friendly publisher that cares about quality like Activision once was and likewise Activision is becoming the evil money-hungry conglamorate that EA once was.

Redface

I'm still a little skeptical of EA, but so far I've actually warmed up to them. Two years ago I was ready to cry "EA is the devil, rabble rabble rabble" but now it seems like their making a legit attempt to grain back some "street cred" as it were.

We'll see this fall with Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Spore, etc.

Anyone else find it odd that EA is slowly starting to become a favorite (or least-hated anyway) publisher while Blivendivision has become the epitome of evil?

deadjesterx

If true, EA has scored a few more points with me, although I will forever have my beef with their NFL exclusivity.

Anarchist_Gamer

@Ashkihyena: No offense, friend, but being belligerent about being off-topic isn't going to do you any favors. You made your point, now move on. Don't act like a sulky child and say I'm going to be resolutely off-topic until you get those other guys in that one thread to stop being off-topic, too... that's both churlish and stupid. Someone else posting whatever in another thread doesn't justify ruining this one. Act like an adult. You disliked them hijacking the other thread? Write to Spoony here and tell him. But don't use it as some kind of reason to ruin another thread.

On topic, I'd love to see EA pick up this game. Tim Schafer is the name I trust most in this industry-- more than Miyamoto, more than Will Wright and Sid Meier, more than Yu Suzuki, more than Kojima. EA, partner with Double Fine, please!

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

@Salen: I know, I just get a bit irritated when someone comes into a Ghostbusters topic and says something along the lines of "I could care less about Ghostbusters, what about Brutal Legend?!" I've seen it on several post.

As for EA, yeah, I do hope they pick up both games and leave their respective companies to do the work on them without having to put any of their own input in (which of course, is bad considering that EA isn't that great at it.)

Ashkihyena

I hope whoever picks this up doesn't ruin it. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna buy this game if it isn't ruined.

Utmu

@HaydenTenno: Actually, all but one of those are internal to EA. Dead Space is at Redwood Shores, Spore is at Maxis (Emeryville), Mercs 2 is at Pandemic, and Mirror's Edge is at DICE. Crysis is the only one EA is just publishing, as the other studios are all wholly owned.

TMTrademark

@Ashkihyena: There's enough love in this world to care about both Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters. I know I care about them.

@Barts: Yeah. I know. It's sort of a scary concept, but in a really good way.

Salen

@Thorax: As I said, I can be annoying too, that being said though, I don't get why Activision had to pull a stupid and drop either deal, but then again, I'm no mind reader and can't tell what kinda stupid decisions were being made.

Again, don't want me posting things like that in another Brutal Legend thread, tell people not to post things like that next time a Ghostbusters thread pops up.

Ashkihyena

i expected this to happen anyway good move on ea's part

rob61920

@Redface: When all evil is vanquished, a new evil must take its place!

Boudabras

@sascha23: Man, there must be some interesting tales there.

@chumpyman: I'd say today's EA is far different, and is actually interested in making money. Didn't Stranger still move a few hundred thousand units without any advertising?

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: Yeah, there is nothing I am looking forward to more than Brutal Legend.

lighten up, morrissey

maybe schafer can have a hit with the big publisher behind him. I hope so.

MisterMcThursday

I said before that if ever Ubi or EA picks this or GB up and rakes in the dough it would bite Activision on the ass. Though they might not care since their toilet is made of pearls and they use 100$ for toilet paper.

Maybe EA is also picking up GB? Or maybe the reason they haven't picked it up is because somebody already did! Dun dun dun dun....

excaliburps

Come one EA....let this be true. A major publisher has the clout and marketing budget the folks at Double Fine need to tell everyone about their fantastic game. Pyschonauts could have been a massive seller for the Xbox if MS hadn't dropped the ball, EA could be onto a winner if publish BL and promote the hell out of it.

Kazzahdrane

Wow, if they do this, I may finally find it in my heart to forgive them for all the pain they've caused me.

Rescuing Tim Schafer games heals all wounds.

Rebochan

@chumpyman:

WHat did they do to it besides publish an awesome game developed by someone else?

Stranger's Wrath was frigging great.

terminalboredom

Thumbs-up for this move! EA is for the win.

Seppli

Double Fine: "Hey, publishers, we have this game called Brutal Le..."

Publishers (except MTV): "Memememememe!" *throws money*

boopadoo

If this is true EA could once again win back my heart after that NFL exclusivity deal. I still loath Madden but they are putting out other quality games it seems now.

DarkGeneral

@TRT-X: Nothing makes this more apparent than the Guitar Hero / Rock Band split.

Which has a higher quality, and which was completely and utterly sold out?

Sparden

Remember it was a ps2 and xbox game in which after programing wise the ps2 version wasnt demded possible EA didnt give the xbox version the push it needed to become marketable. After all how many ad's did you see after lauch? Not that many.

chumpyman

and no i'm not a plant ;)

laser beams

wow.
this is great news.
while a lot of us gamers have been too busy hating on EA because of their shitty previous decade or so- they have quietly been going after some seriously talented developers for the past couple of years. this has paid off quite a bit, i would imagine- and i bet it will continue to make them even more successful in the next couple of years. like them or not- EA are one of the very few companies who are using their vast casual success to change gears and refocus their sights on a new target: the "core gamer". they know that players like us are the tastemakers who ultimately decide which games really are good and talk them up to everyone else and show up day one to make a purchase on quality franchises. they have admitted past mistakes and have actually done things to ammend the problem (i.e.- forcing changes to games that were contrary to the developers designs, pushing games out the door that were unfinished, and releasing unpolished PS3 versions of games- these are just the first ones that immediately come to mind). with the trend they have started this past year or so- i am actually quite interested to hear what they have lined up for fall of '09...

laser beams

Enough about brutal legend... what about the weevil??

Polite Society

This is great. I love EA, but HATE Activision, but not Blizzard.

Gingerbread0Man

EA is really making a change for the better.

TF2Soldier914

as long as they don't even SLIGHTLY affect the artistic integrity of the game... or try to censor the game in ANY way.. then i don't have a HUGE problem with it.

maybe they can even double or triple the games budget. :p and do a DECENT job marketing the game.

i am weary about EA, but in the end, it might be okay.