Electronic Arts announced today that it expects earnings to be below expectations and will reduce the number of games in its 2009 game release line up. That will also mean further “headcount reductions.”

In October, EA announced it would lay off 6 percent of its employees, approximately 600 positions. The next round of cost cutting will see additional lay-offs, facility consolidations and a software release list leaner than 2008’s.

“While we saw significant improvement in the overall quality of our key products this year, we are disappointed that our holiday slate is not meeting our sales expectations,” EA CEO John Riccitiello said in a prepared statement. He attributed part of the decision to an “uncertain economic environment.”

EA says it will be “taking steps to reduce our cost structure and improve the profitability of our business.”

Analysts pointed to new titles Mirror’s Edge, Rock Band 2 and Need For Speed Undercover as possible underperformers, leading to estimated holiday quarter earnings $70 million lower than previously projected.

Riccitiello said during an investor call that followed the release it plans to cut “SKUs from the bottom levels of profitability.”

He later clarified that reductions in the ‘09 line up would likely not affect its sports titles, but would be “divided evenly between core and casual” software.

In the fourth quarter of Friday’s Portland-Boston game, the Celtics’ bench blew most of a 25-point lead. Needless to say, Kevin Garnett was not impressed. During a timeout, KG jawed at second-year forward Glen Davis before the starters returned to take care of business. After the conflict, Davis sulked at the end of the bench, fighting back tears.

Jeff Clark at CelticsBlog thinks KG and Big Baby will “hug it out” and be “better friends for it,” but I’m still holding out hope that they’ll fight after school down by the cemetery

Slashgamer writes: “We love Mega Man and we also love LittleBigPlanet. FusionZX had the ingenious idea of combining them both and created a Mega Man level using the LBP level editor. I know we’ve seen quite a few remakes using the editor, but this one tops them all.”

90210 star Lauren London, aka cheerleader Christina Worthy, goes gay in an upcoming episode of the hit CW show, reports TV Guide.

When 90210 returns with new episodes on Jan. 6, Christina gets a girlfriend. Her character is described as being bisexual as in the Nov. 18 episode, Christina flirted with Dixon (Tristan Wilds) during the Spirit Dinner and then again at the lacrosse game.

WHAT DO YOU THINK of this new development in the 90210 storyline?

Source: http://www.justjared.com/

blackandwhitegames.net

There is law in retail, which is called the “Law of Attractors and Detractors.” What it states is that someone with a bad experience will tell ten people, and someone with a positive experience will only tell two. Well I am telling the world of my last three shopping experiences with GameStop. He is an email I just sent to GameStop.

Dear GameStop,

I want to start off by thanking you for persuading me to shop at your competitors. My last three visits to your stores have been lackluster at best. Do you really train your associates to harass your customers? Is not selling them what they want going to help you succeed in the gaming retail space? You may be asking yourself what I am talking about? So I am going to share my experiences with you.

The first of my most wonderful GameStop experiences focuses around the launch of the Playstation 3 title Little Big Planet. Back in October when it was originally supposed to launch, I reserved the game at my local GameStop in the same shopping center, where I work. I tell you that because I shop at your establishments for convenience. The game was delayed, however, and some retailers received their copies and continued to sell them regardless of Sony’s wishes. I stayed the course an d waited for your store to get them back in stock. Sony did a weird thing and rereleased the game on a Saturday. The store where I reserved my copy did not have them in stock yet so I cancelled my preorder so I could go to BestBuy and pick it up. It was not that I did not want to buy from your location; I wanted to play the game right away. As I was leaving the store the UPS truck pulled up so I walked back in. I asked if they had received the game and they clerk said yes. I asked if I could buy a copy. He said no. I asked why not. He said it was because I not longer had it preordered. I asked how many preorders they had no including mine, which I had just canceled. He said 18. I asked how many copies of the game they had received. He said 20. So I asked why I couldn’t buy one of the extra copies. He said because I did not have it preordered. So I continued to BestBuy, where I walked into the store, bought the game, and continued home to play the game without incident. Is my sixty plus dollars, I bought a strategy guide, not worth the same to you as a customer to has a game preordered. Even though you returned the preorder fee of five dollars.

My second stellar customer experience happened when I purchased Resistance 2. Again a game that I preordered; I went into my local store again to purchase the game. I walked up to the register to get my copy, which not was only preordered but paid off already. The clerk started ring me up and asked if I wanted to preorder any other games or purchase anything else. I told him no thank you. The clerk insisted I think about purchasing Gears of War 2. I told the associate I no longer owned an Xbox 360. He asked why and I told him that I had experience the disc read error and red ring multiple times He said that it shouldn’t be a reason to deter me from playing Gears. I again told him no thank you. He told me in so many words to have good time with my inferior PS3. I walked out with my game, and came right back in and returned it, then preceded to Target to buy the game. Am I less of a gamer because I only play PC and PS3 games? Again I ask you if my sixty dollars is worth less to you because I don’t conform to your employees idea of what I should own and be playing. To let you know half of the 360’s I owned and PS3’s I own were bought from GameStop.

Both of my previous experience happened at the Cherrywood store in Clementon NJ. My last experience did not happen at a GameStop location but at a MovieStop location. I went out for the midnight launch of the Dark Knight. I traveled 5 miles out of my way to get this movie at midnight, when Target and Walmart had it for cheaper on blu-ray, at 23.99, and 23.86, respectively and not for the 24.99 I purchased it for a MovieStop. Again I went to your location for convenience because I wanted to have it at midnight. When I reached the counter with my blu-ray copy, the gentleman who was name Gary from the Turnersville NJ location asked me if I preordered the movie. I said no. He asked me why and I told him because I could have go to another establishment and bought it for cheaper I just wanted it right away. So that is the reason why I was there. I call this man out by name since this happened last night and I remember his name. I have not opened my copy yet to watch. I believe I am going to waste the gas to return it out of principle.

Why am I worth less as a person because I do not preorder games, or have a different system then what your employees have? I am tired of the experience I have at your location and I will no longer be shopping with your company. I hope you take this to heart and improve your business model.

Sincerely Your Former Customer,

Steven Stohr

IN-GAME SCREENSHOT THE BEST EVER

vgtilt.com

I was recently sent a pretty detailed run down of what to expect from God of War 3… This is an actual build of the game and not the trailer we’re all set to see at the VGA’s. I am told that it will only be a very short glimpse of what the game is going to offer and will probably be further edited down to about 20 seconds if that. He thinks it could be so edited that if you blink you might miss it… 10 seconds, even.

Sadly, I’m not able to go into as much detail here. It sucks, I know. But, at the request of the man in question and in hopes of building a better relationship with him in the future I will honor that request.

What I can talk about is this:

Graphically it is going to set a new standard. Easily eclipsing the detail in Gears of War 2 and uncharted… God of War 3 is set to offer up the most cinematic experiences ever! He was over the moon about how good it looked… he said there is nothing that comes remotely close. “The detail is crafted with highest of care and the animations sell the experience like nothing you’ve ever seen” .

He was told that the game will be 1080P and 60FPS… He then said it was obvious the footage he seen wasn’t, though. So, if they’re shooting for 1080P and 60fps and haven’t hit it yet that’s a good thing… since the game already looks better than anything out there. This is a win for the gamers.

Kratos doesn’t look like the only playable in the game. Apparently their might be someone along for the ride… His brother perhaps???

Gameplay remains somewhat the same but with tweaks that begged to be put in from the beginning. The camera is now placed much closer and everything is bigger and only on “certain” instances does the camera pan way out on you. He explained to me there are 3 new mechanics to the gameplay engine that drastically alter it for different players.

There will be an online mode… Gladiator mode and co-op are two he touched upon.

The area he has seen shows Kratos battling hordes of rotting corpses in a highly detailed cemetery. There is a a sea supplying eerie fog as the backdrop, along with dead trees and headstones. The sky has a reddish hue to it but real time storm clouds act as a blanket of night for the setting.

He said the zombies realistically came up through the ground, disruptting the dirt and clawed their way into battle. He said the detail and quality of work represented in this was something he’d never seen in a video game before. After Kratos had ripped through the onslaught of undead he comes to a tomb and a battle rages on between he and a reaper-like boss battle.

Described as one of the most cinematic fights in gaming history, it came together by actual fighting, timed button presses but also another brand new mechanic he didn’t elaborate on further.
He said the there will be100% be a playable demo for the PSN in the coming months ahead. Maybe sooner than later???

He ended it by saying the trailer we see at the VGA’s isn’t going to be anything to get too excited about and will end up showcasing very little of the game. And finally, while highly impressed with how the game looks and seems to play, he said he was hoping to have seen more than the cemetery in wish he feels probably starts the game off or finds its mark shortly afterwards. He said the fighting and sheer amount of enemies on screen is unheard of and was epic enough to open up the game, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t toss in something even bigger than what he seen.

-

I do have a bit more detailed stuff to go off of here but will wait for his word on things… He is said to have snapped a few pics and how great would it be if they landed somewhere in here? I’ll be back later to update.

www.gamefocus.ca

Commander in Chief, a geo-political simulation game for PCs, puts players in President Obama’s shoes starting on January 20, 2009, Inauguration Day, when the game will be available at retail stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com.

Players face the same complex issues as President Obama – economics, energy, national security, terrorism, and all things politic – and can test their ability in five levels of difficulty to govern the U.S. on a world stage, responding to actions taken by fellow global leaders, just as in real life.

Commander in Chief is played on a detailed 3D world map showing 192 countries and 8,000 cities in a visually stimulating user interface with multiple windows, on-screen video inserts, and scrolling ticker tapes.

Each country has current data on 400 key factors including:

Economics (unemployment, inflation);
Energy (oil, gas, nuclear, hydro-electric, alternative energy sources);
Monetary (interest rates, stock markets, currency);
Social (unemployment and heath insurance, social security);
Military (detailed information on weaponry, arms production, locations of 1,000 military bases around the world);
Environment (carbon monoxide emissions, Kyoto protocols);
Culture (film production, sports, Internet distribution); and many other categories.

Commander in Chief also includes data from 50 international organizations including the United Nations, G7, NATO, NAFTA, and OPEC, adding another layer of real world relationships. Players’ early tasks are to select members of the Cabinet and heads of states from 250 personality types and 20 variables including age, gender, political leaning, religion, charisma, competence, popularity, etc.

The Player President is immediately faced with internal and external decision making, and every decision has an in-game consequence.

Internal decisions involve managing budgets, security, education, health care, deliberation over many proposed laws, dealing with powerful lobbies, responding to vocal critics, and many other activities. Every decision has a consequence which changes the political environment. For example, raising taxes will generate criticisms and protests while lowering taxes will result in players having less money to play with. Cut spending or re-align spending priorities and expect outrage from special interest groups.

External decisions involve military issues, global monetary and economics, trade agreements, and spending time lobbying other Presidents, Prime Ministers, and dictators. Players can determine the course of world events by invading a neutral country, toppling an unfriendly regime, or plotting assassinations, and then must face the economic, political, and military consequences.

All of these decisions are made under the constant threat of a terrorist strike in a major U.S. city, or the possible invasion of the U.S. by foreign military forces.

Commander in Chief allows the Player President to consult daily newspapers, use his or her laptop or phone to communicate with other government officials or leaders of other countries.

Players have a choice of “Open Mode” where the President Player’s goal is to remain in power as long as possible or the “Missions Mode” which challenges players with reaching specific goals. The game can be played in Solo mode (one player) against the computer or in “Multiplayer War Game Mode” (up to 16 players).

Gamers can also enjoy the added fun of acting in the roles of leaders of other countries.

Think you can do better than President Obama? Starting January 20th you can try your best in Commander in Chief, available at $39.95.

Commander in Chief was developed by Eversim, published by IGS (Interactive Gaming Software based in Maryland), and distributed in North America by Atari Distribution.

chartget.blogspot.com

Kris Graft of EDGE is reporting that Gears of War 2 has passed three million in worldwide sales.

Launching only four weeks ago, the sequel to the 5-million-selling megahit reached the three-million mark six weeks quicker than the original.

Epic Games VP Mark Rein said in an e-mail, “Microsoft [the game's publisher] confirmed to me this afternoon that Gears of War 2 sell-through surpassed 3 million units as of last week.”

This is certainly good news to GoW fans, hardcore gamers, and investors alike; when a game like GoW and its sequel can sell eight million combined it shows that the market will still support quality games in the male 18-35 demographic.

gamingfront.net

This generation has seen a real lack of killer RPG’s, with the recent downturn of Square Enix as the premiere RPG developer, it looks as if Sony is banking on Level 5 to take the Playstation brand back to the console of choice for RPG players. Recently a rumor has gotten some wind that allegedly reports that a deal has been struck between Sony and RPG Developer Level 5, the deal supposedly states that upon the probable success of White Knight (an exclusive title for PS3) Level 5 will become an exclusive developer for Sony. Is Sony gearing up even further for what should be a killer 2009 and beyond?

1up.com

UPDATE — As some have noted in the comments below, Baker has deleted all of his former entries, and updated his blog with a new post explaining the situation away as a misunderstanding. We’ve taken a careful look at the cached version of his original post, and still believe in the accuracy of our first report.

In his new post, Baker claims that the misunderstanding came from the recent loss of Brash Entertainment, and that none of the projects at Factor 5 have been stopped. “This does not mean that we’ve stopped production on that game, or that it was even in trouble,” he said. But in his original post, he stated, “without proper funding on the project I was working on, the company was forced to stop production.” He and his coworkers decided to stay at the company despite the canceled project and lack of pay because, “if we left, there would have been no hope in F5 staying afloat.”

Regarding the overall health of the company, Baker’s new post says that “the other projects currently under way at Factor 5 are doing great.” However, in his original post he stated, “the president of the company basically told us that if we didn’t receive funding in 1 week, all of us should move on and look elsewhere for another job. … I have 1 more week left at Factor 5.” The “we” here could be referring only to his team and their canceled project, or Factor 5 as a whole.

This is a sensitive subject both on a personal and corporate level, so it could be that Baker was asked to take it down by his employers, but we can’t be sure. We sympathize that this likely a hard time for Baker due to the possibility of his studio closing, and we wish him and his coworkers the best of luck if Factor 5 does need to lay off employees or close its doors.

ORIGINAL STORY –Developer Factor 5 is facing tough choices due to our bad economy, according to a blog post from Sam Baker, an animator for the company. Baker explains that after a two-week foray to work with California-based animation studio The Orphanage, he came back to Factor 5 and found that none of his fellow employees had been paid in the past month. His team continued on their current project, but then had their health care benefits taken as a cost-saving measure.

Next, the company told employees that they had to shutter the current project due to insufficient funds. “We figured it wasn’t a problem, however, because there were still other projects that needed us,” he said. But most recently, Baker claims that Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht told the employees that they need funding in a week, or employees may need to start looking for other jobs. This is all the word of one blogger, so without official comment from the company we’ll file it as a rumor for now. We can hope that the situation isn’t as dire as it sounds, but if it is Factor 5 may need to start letting go of employees within the next week.

Baker doesn’t mention any of the projects the company had in the pipeline, but we know that the company was working on a Wii title, rumored to be a new entry in the Rogue Squadron series, or a revival of the SNES classic Pilotwings. Factor 5’s last big game was Lair, which was received harshly by critics due to imprecise motion controls. The company has been known for pushing hardware, so fans hoped the next game would showcase their skills. Unfortunately, due to the bad economy, they may never get the chance. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.