Kotaku Australia » blitz

Midway Sale To WB Clears Court, Staff At Two Studios Given Notice

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:00:17 +0000

Warner Brothers’ bid to purchase much of game publisher Midway won court approval yesterday. The company updated Kotaku and clarified the status of some studios and licenses.

The sale to Warner Brothers is expected to close in the next 10 days, according to Midway spokesperson Geoffrey Mogilner. That will put the Mortal Kombat licence, the This Is Vegas project, Midway’s sports and arcade brands as well as the company’s Chicago and Seattle studios under the WB umbrella.

Among the studios and properties not part of WB’s acquisition are Midway’s Newcastle and San Diego studios. The San Diego team has been working on a new TNA game, according to Mogilner, but neither the team nor the wrestling licence is part of the WB deal. The team at San Diego, as required by law, was given 60 days’ notice on Wednesday. Wheelman studio Newcastle had already received similar notice, though Mogilner was uncertain how long ago that had been provided. Newscastle has been working on the new game Necessary Force. The spokesman said it is “entirely possible” that those studios could be acquired, but no bids are on the table.

One update about Midway’s sports lines: The Blitz brand is part of the Warner Brothers deal, but Midway’s NBA Ballers and NFL Blitz games, which were a product of expired Midway deals with pro sports leagues, are not.

Kotaku reported WB’s interest in Midway in April. The media giant’s $33 million bid succeeded after an obligatory waiting period saw no other formal suitors, according to the LA Times.

Midway is one of the original video game developers and publishers in the industry, one of the few active companies that was making games before the rise of home consoles.

Blitz: The League II Has Exploding Testicles

Kotaku US Edition — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0000

In case you missed out on the ballin’ Midway party last night, here’s a quick rundown. The Budlight was flowing, I found out Lawrence Taylor wears watches the size of a small child’s head, and, oh yeah, there was some video games there, too. While I got to play Blitz: The League II at the party with everyone else, it wasn’t exactly the best environment to sit down and really look at a game, especially with Justin Timberlake blasting in your ears. But is it as experimental as LT says it is?

You know, I’m not sure how I should approach Blitz 2. Yes, it’s a football game, but that’s just on the surface. Really, this game is about abusing the human body. It’s over-the-top, funny, and should not be taken seriously. If you’re buying this game for the simulated football experience, there will be little of it. But that’s OK. Blitz has never been about that and certainly doesn’t try to hide it.

I’m not sure where to start. I’ll guess I can go over the football part first.

Multimedia Roundup: Lego Batman, Tomb Raider, Blitz II

Owen Good — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:00:00 +0000

Rather than masquerade a single video as an entire post, here are some highlights of what’s available from other sites in the way of movies and screens:

• Above is the new trailer for Lego Batman. We picked it up from Gamers Hell. It’s got Poison Ivy building some evil-looking plant mini-kits, and Bruce Wayne kicking arse with a briefcase.

• Some more screens from Tomb Raider: Underworld. (Also Gamers Hell)

• Also the World Exclusive Debut Trailer for Blitz: The League II. It’s at Gametrailers, because everything over there is a world exclusive.

Midway Confirms Next-Gen Mortal Kombat, Blitz Due In ‘08

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:27:33 +0000

Amid the potentially bad news of Unreal Tournament III’s slipped ship date was two bits of good news from Midway. The company has confirmed that both Mortal Kombat and the NFL-license free Blitz will get “next-gen” updates next year. While we don’t know much about where the Blitz franchise is headed, we do know that Mortal Kombat mainstay Ed Boon is planning a more serious, Gears of War-inspired revamp of the violent 15-year old fighting series. As long as my Babalities are in ultra-high definition, we’re cool.

In addition to those two sequels, David F. Zucker, president and CEO, hinted at two “new ambitious open world games” but provided no further details.