vivendi

Rebellion Goes Bargain Shopping, Picks Up A Ton Of Great Old IP

4:00PM Luke Plunkett | Aliens vs Predator developers Rebellion have been picking through the remains of Vivendi’s old portfolio of intellectual property, discarded amidst the company’s merger with Activision, and have found a number of bargains. More »

Ludlum Rep Says Jason Bourne In The Hands Of ‘Grown Ups Now’

8:40AM Michael McWhertor | Seems Robert Ludlum’s estate was no fan of Vivendi’s The Bourne Conspiracy. Keith Boesky, who represents the interests of Robert Ludlum, says of the new deal with Electronic Arts, “We’re dealing with grown ups now.” More »

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is Dead, Dead, Dead [Update]

12:00AM Brian Crecente | Remember 50 Cent II, the sequel to discography-cum-video game 50-Cent: Bulletproof? The game that Sierra named 50-Cent: Blood on the Sand? The one that has a love-interest, slick graphics and tons of blood? Yeah, it’s dead. Caught in the unflinching cogs of big video game business, mergers, and close downs, we hear. Victim of a flooded genre and a potential publisher with one too many shooters on its hands. But don’t cry for Fifty. We hear the G-Unit-sporting rapper got his appearance cash, while Swordfish, the team behind the budding game, is likely to get sold off. You gotta love this business. More »

Ghostbusters Pulled From Gamestop

8:30AM Kotaku US Edition | We are getting reports that Gamestop have pulled Ghostbusters from pre-order. The tips centre on an internal email at Gamestop, informing staff that pre-order customers will be entitled to a full refund. Sure enough, where a search for ‘Ghostbusters’ on Gamestop once returned this impressive array[via Google cache] of results, currently the only Ghostbuster-related item to be found on the site is this rather forlorn copy of the original movie on UMD. Hard to say exactly what this means – both Terminal Reality and Vivendi have been adamant that the game will be published. The main confusion seems to be who by? More »

Electronic Arts Publishing Brutal Legend?

2:00AM Brian Crecente | So we know that Double Fine’s musical epic Brutal Legend is fine, because Tim Schafer told us so. We also know that it’s not going to be published by Vivendi or by MTV. But who is going to put out this Jack Black anthem? According to at least one source the game’s future publisher is none other than Electronic Arts. Neither EA nor Double Fine would comment on the rumour, but it doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch. After all Electronic Arts has been expanding their Partners division, landing top tier titles like Harmonix’ Rock Band, Valve’s Left 4 Dead and most recently id Software’s Rage. And who knows, if Electronic Arts Partners picks up Double Fine’s Brutal Legend maybe they’ll snatch up Ghostbusters The Video Game too. More »

Sierra’s Last Game Is A Sad Way To Go Out

11:20PM Luke Plunkett | Ah, Sierra. So, so, so many fond memories. King’s Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Quest For Glory, Half-Life 1, Homeworld, SWAT…so many good games, so many good times. So it’s crushing to see that, as the label prepares to fade into oblivion following the Blactivision merger, its last game is…less than memorable. Hitting the printers as the ink dried on the Activision-Vivendi merger was Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, making it most likely the last game to be sold under the Sierra brand name (at least until someone digs it up, Atari style). An awful game based on an awful movie. Shame, that. Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: Sierra’s sad swan song [Variety] More »

Is It Time To Let Sierra Die?

2:40PM Luke Plunkett | That’s a question Edge are asking today, and it follows on from a string of questions people have been asking for at least 10-15 years. What was once a company renowned for their PC adventure games, and later as the publisher of stuff like Half-Life and SWAT, are now facing oblivion, with Activision displaying zero interest in maintaining the brand following their merger with Vivendi. Me, I say put it to rest, and it’s a sentiment shared by company founder Ken Williams: I really don’t know what Sierra even is these days…I suppose I should be disappointed anytime I hear that Sierra is being shut down, but it really doesn’t bother me. The company was horribly mismanaged for a long time, and it depresses me more every time I hear about a dumb decision being made than it does when I hear that someone did the right thing, even when it includes killing off a brand or reducing staff size. Oh Sierra. Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon. And when it is, we’ll remember you for Quest for Glory, not Magna Cum Laude. Why Sierra Must Die [Edge] More »

Will We See The Ghostbusters Game In 2009?

1:00PM Brian Ashcraft | So Activision doesn’t want to publish Ghostbuster: The Videogame (silly, Activision). We’ve heard that the game isn’t cancelled, but what exactly does that mean? Is it even coming out or will it just languish? According to Variety, Sony Pictures, who owns the rights to Ghostbuters and who licenced the IP to Vivendi last year, is working Vivendi “to evaluate various options surrounding the release of the ‘Ghostbusters’ video game”. What’s more, Sony adds: This has presented [Sony Pictures Consumer Products] with an opportunity to reevaluate the game release marketing strategy to potentially coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original film in ‘09. So if the game’s not out until 2009, who’s going to publish? One thing that is for sure is another year in develop should only help not hurt this game. Ghostbusters game delayed to 2009, but who’s publishing it? [The Cut Scene] More »

Vivendi Gives Bourne Back To Ludlum

3:40AM Mike Fahey | As a part of Activision’s continuing offloading of Sierra properties, Ludlum Entertainment has required the rights to create games based off of the works of Robert Ludlum. These include the Bourne series and Covert One, both of which excited Crecente to no end when Vivendi first announced them back in 2005. Now three years and one measly game later the ball is back in Ludlum’s court. “Our colleagues at Vivendi Games did a tremendous job of capturing the spirit and allure of Robert Ludlum’s writing with The Bourne Conspiracy and the gaming community’s strong response is clear indication that future Ludlum games will deliver both popularity and profitability for years to come”, commented Jeffrey Weiner, CEO of Ludlum Entertainment. Weiner went on to say that the company looked forward to working with other partners in the future. Ludlum estate reacquires Bourne game rights from Vivendi [GamesIndustry.biz] More »