GameSpot’s Year in Review
Here’s a great review of the Best of 2007:
A new year is a good time to try new things, and 2007 started with a wave of high-profile departures throughout the industry. New Year’s Eve revelers barely had time to recover from the festivities before 
Microsoft confirmed that Tim and Chris Stamper, cofounders of Perfect Dark and Viva Pia00740061 developer Rare, were no longer with the company. The next day, news arrived that Human Head CEO Tim Gerritsen, project manager for Rune and producer for Prey, was leaving the company to pursue something new in the games industry (which wound up being Big Rooster
By mid-January, Take-Two Interactive acknowledged that Rockstar Games cofounder and managing director Terry Donovan had left the company, and longtime GameSpot editor-in-chief Greg Kasavin went to Electronic Arts’ Los Angeles studio, where he worked on the rejuvenated Command & Conquer series.
January is also a big month for number crunchers because retail sales figures for the single biggest month of the year roll in and the NPD Group posts its annual industry recap. The group reported that 2006 was another record-breaking year for the US retail gaming industry, with sales growth practically across the board. The full-year take was $12.5 billion, and more than a quarter of that amount came in December alone.
Two of the big reasons for those record-breaking sales were the November 2006 launches of the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. It didn’t take long for 2007 to establish a trend in the consoles’ fates that would last the entire year. Indication that the supply-constrained PlayStation 3 might be off to a slow start arrived in early January when GameStop announced that it had significant quantities of the system still in stock, followed by reports that Japanese retailers were discounting the machine in response to sluggish sales…(more)
Big Robot Game Cafe is Coming Soon!
Welcome visitors! Things are progressing nicely for the cafe, which should be open in late Winter. If you read about Big Robot in either the Dayton Daily News or the Tipp Independent Voice, thanks for taking a second to drop by! This website is just getting started — as we know more details, we’ll be sure to update the website, so check back often for more information!
Also, we’ll be sending out announcements about the store, including our opening date, Grand Opening information, and a special sneak preview — if you’d like to be informed, send me an email to get on the list. My email is greg at bigrobotgamecafe.com.
One thing that is “fully operational” is our FORUMS – those are all set up and ready to go. Stop by for a visit and post your suggested games or any other ideas you have about what BIG ROBOT GAME CAFE should be like – we’re still getting set up, so it’s not too late for great ideas…
‘Assassin’s Creed’ Sales Outpace Expectations
From: MSNBC.com
A Middle Ages assassin is helping game maker Ubisoft stand up to bigger competitors. The France-based company said Thursday it was revising its targets for this fiscal year upward and was able to delay release of several high-profile games due to to unexpectedly strong sales of its blockbuster “Assassin’s Creed.”
The game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is expected to sell more than five million copies worldwide by the end of the fiscal year, up from the company’s initial estimate of three million, company CEO Yves Guillemot said. It cost $15 million to $20 million to develop, and was in the works for four years.
“It’s doing extremely well, and what we see is it is actually the fastest selling new (intellectual property) in the industry in the U.S.,” Guillemot told The Associated Press. “It shows that consumers are avid for novelty, and when you do something new, they respond.” A sequel to the open-world stealth action game is already in development by the same Montreal office that created the first.
Guillemot said the success of “Assassin’s” allowed Ubisoft to delay until after the holidays the release of “Haze,” a first-person shooter for Xbox and PS3 in which players can turn enemies on one another. Delayed into the next fiscal year were “Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway,” “Far Cry 2″ and “Tom Clancy’s End War,” which allows players issue voice commands to their military squads.
First look: Whip cracks over new ‘Indiana Jones’ movie
From: USATODAY.com
Now that the poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has been revealed, some details from the super-secret plot also can be officially exposed.
Indiana Jones co-producer Frank Marshall is authorized to confirm some rumors and detail some of the story, about a quest for South American relics with supernatural powers. When last we saw Indy, he was riding off into the sunset in 1989’s The Last Crusade, set in 1938 near the start of World War II. The new movie, due this spring, is set at the height of the Cold War in 1957, so the character has aged in real time — 19 years.
“He’s teaching and having kind of a quiet life,” the producer says. Once the archaeologist is thrust back into danger, the signature Indiana Jones red line tracing across the map will take him to New Mexico, Connecticut, Mexico City and the jungles of Peru. Despite all the gray-hair jokes (Harrison Ford is 65), Indy is still swinging from dangerous precipices and absorbing punches.
“Indy’s a fallible character. He makes mistakes and gets hurt. He has a few more aches and pains now,” Marshall says. “That’s the other thing people like: He’s a real character, not a character with superpowers.” The Nazis are no longer Indy’s chief foe — he’s racing for the Crystal Skull against operatives from the Soviet Union, including Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as the seductive Agent Spalko. “Indy always has a love-hate relationship with every woman he ever comes in contact with,” Marshall says.
Ray Winstone, currently the star of Beowulf, co-stars as an unethical rival archaeologist. Transformers star Shia LaBeouf sports greaser hair and rides a motorcycle as the hero’s sidekick. The Last Crusade concluded without a cliffhanger, but Crystal Skull will revisit bits from other films, including Karen Allen’s feisty Marion Ravenwood from 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark…
Guitar Hero IV, Call of Duty 5 in the Pipeline
From GameDaily:
Following the gargantuan merger news surrounding Vivendi Games and Activision, a new fact sheet has surfaced on the Vivendi corporate site detailing the transaction. While most of the information was already outlined in the main announcement, a line about Activision’s upcoming products seemingly confirmed new installments in the publisher’s biggest franchises.
A line about what’s in the “pipeline” lists “Guitar Hero IV, Call of Duty 5, James Bond, new Tony Hawk, new DreamWorks titles, new Marvel titles and entry into racing with Bizarre.”
While new iterations in Activision’s multi-million selling franchises comes as no surprise, the speed at which the games are brought to market could mark a new EA Sports-like approach for the publisher. According to comments from CEO Bobby Kotick on a conference call, “You can expect virtually every one of those properties will be exploited on an annual or close to annual basis.”
Xbox 360 Family Timer
From Game Daily: the new Xbox 360 Family Timer will be available for download in early December 2007. Microsoft, the Parent Teacher Association and Jerry Rice today revealed new parental tools which are part of the “Safety is no game. Is your family set?” campaign’s second year. This includes PACT, a contract designed to engender discussion among family members about screen time guidelines. The family PACT is an extensive guideline to setting rules on media use, helping parents and children agree on the level of parental involvement, the access children can have to media and others online, the sort of content children are allowed to play or watch and the amount of time children can use that media. The family PACT can be downloaded immediately at http://www.xbox.com/isyourfamilyset.
“As a leader in interactive entertainment, it’s Microsoft’s responsibility to provide parents with tools they can use to manage their children’s video gaming and online experiences, and we have made that a priority from the very start,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft.
This partnership also unveiled the Xbox 360 Family Timer, which enables parents to set a limit to the use of the Xbox 360 for their kids. The Family Timer is similar to its Windows Vista counterpart in that it can restrict children’s activity time and can be set on a per-day or per-week basis. Notifications will appear to warn the gamer that the session is nearing the end and the Timer will automatically turn off the console when the time limit has been reached. The Family Timer feature will be available for download via Xbox Live in early December.
A GAME CAFE? WHAT’S THAT?
Big Robot Game Cafe offers PC and video gaming in our state-of-the-art gaming center. Pay just $5 per hour to enjoy the latest game titles in a relaxed, coffee-house atmosphere. Exclusive to the Dayton area, Big Robot Game Cafe offers the latest and greatest in video gaming, PC gaming, and trendy food and drinks without taking a huge bite out of your wallet. Want to play all the latest video and PC games but can’t afford it? Drop by our place instead - it’s only $5 per hour!
Location: We're located at 114 East Main Street, Tipp City, OH 45371 (MAP), four doors down from Harrison's and across from Grounds for Pleasure
Hours: Monday to Thursday 3pm - 9pm, Friday 3pm - midnight, Saturday 11am - midnight, and Sunday 11am - 5pm. CLOSED MONDAYS and TUESDAYS
Phone: 506-8808 (during business hours) or try us at our NEW number 654-2109 (for messages).
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