Surprise, here comes Ghostbusters

By Stephen Munn | January 9, 2009

Those who watched Sierra come crashing down many moons ago might be surprised to hear that their highest profile title at the time, Ghostbusters, is still on its way. With the end of Sierra, it will be good news to hear something as important as this game is getting the “rock star” treatment and will be handled by a nice strong company who can produce a quality game on time for all of us fans.

Uh-oh, it’s Atari.

In lighter news, this will be timed with the release of 1984’s film Ghostbusters on BluRay, which is nice.

The sprinkles are also cursed…

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Cryptic Studios Is Snapped Up By Atari

By Joe Haygood | December 9, 2008

With a tough economy, and rumors of more and more development houses being strapped for cash, more and more companies are looking for ways to make it through these times, more commonly by partnering or being acquired. Cryptic Studios is the latest studio to fall into this trend, hooking up with Atari.

Cryptic Studios is currently developing two MMO titles, Champions Online for a 2009 release, and Star Trek Online for a 2010 release. While Champions is based on an old pen and paper role playing game (and ill fated computer game many years ago), Star Trek Online is the big unknown in all of this. Cryptic came out of the gates swinging with a huge announcement at a Star Trek convention, with all kinds of details about the game, but have been silent since then.

Atari on the other hand, gets two MMO games under their roof, and the possible continuous revenue stream that they can provide, if they become successful.

Check the full press release after the jump
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Aeropodcast #60: Now Charging For Podcast Ending

By Joe Haygood | December 8, 2008

Fourhman and Joe are back for another rousing discussion of all things video gaming. From the title of this podcast, you might thing we have gone all commercial, but in fact, it leads into our main point of discussion this week, which is the recent buzz around used game sales. Yes, we look at some of the comments that certain CEO’s have made, including the “charging for the last level” thoughts from Mike Capps.

We had some great questions this week from the community, including Jordan Snyder asking about our most memorable Christmas moments that were gaming related. Jrittmeyer asked us about the cheapest and most expensive games that we bought, and yes the King is involved. We also threw in some great news stories, adding our own two cents.

Music this week is from Revolution Void, and can be found at www.revolutionvoid.com. The podcast is put together by the Aeropause Mixmaster, Stephen Munn, and his twin turntables of steel.

Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes.

Riddick: Dark Athena Becomes New Game, Original Is Bonus Content

By Joe Haygood | December 3, 2008

After the Activision Blizzard fire sale of 2008, people started to wonder what would happen to some of those titles. One of those titles was The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena, which had been scheduled as a remake of the classic Riddick game, Escape from Butcher’s Bay. Now comes word that the development team had been working on a lot of additional content for the game. So much content that the added content has become the main focus of the game.

So what happens to the original game that was suppose to be updated? Well, the original Escape from Butcher’s Bay will be included with the game, but will be on a separate disc as bonus material, and will have a complete visual upgrade courtesy of the new game engine.

Its funny that we were making fun of Atari, who was a laughing stock of the gaming industry a few months ago, has made some shrewed moves to upgrade their game catalog and image and are really looking to become a new force in the gaming industry.

via Gamecyte

Atari unafraid of ghosts, Riddick

By Jeremy Yerby | October 30, 2008

Last July the newly formed conglomerate Activision-Blizzard announced that they would only be publishing five titles that were under development for Sierra (a subsidiary of Vivendi). Ghostbusters, a game we’ve been teased about since early 2007, was not one of them. Sierra said that the game was not and would not be cancelled, however most of us knew that the future of the title was uncertain. Also amongst the games shunned by Activision-Blizzard is the remake of 2004’s excellent Chronicles of Riddick game. However, there may indeed be hope for both titles as it is now being reported that Atari has picked up publishing for both games.

According to Variety, the Riddick remake will see store shelves first, as early as this spring. With a wordy title like “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” those who missed the first Riddick game on Xbox could assume this is another terrible movie-game tie-in. However, the Xbox original was critically acclaimed and takes my prize as one of the best games to ever grace the big black box. This new game promises to include the classic game with updated visuals as well as a new single-player campaign and an all new multiplayer mode.

Although less is known about the Ghostbusters game, sources close to the publisher speculate that the game is likely to be released early next summer to coincide with the film’s 25th anniversary.

Source: Variety

Activision Roadblocking Brutal Legend Release

By Joe Haygood | October 30, 2008

When Activision bought out Vivendi/Sierra and imploded most of the releases on the Sierra schedule, there were lots of questions as to where some of these titles would go. Some have already found homes, like Ghostbusters and Riddick going to Atari, but others are still in limbo, like Double Fine’s Brutal Legend.

Now comes word, via Destructoid, that Activision is putting up roadblocks at every turn in regards to Double Fine trying to find a publisher for the game. Why they would be going to such lengths to block this game is anyone’s guess.

Brutal Legend is an hybrid action/adventure styled game, that stars your character as a roadie that gets sucking into a world that mimics all the cliches we have seen on the front of heavy metal albums for decades. The main character is voiced by Jack Black, and the animation for the game looks stunning. Hopefully, activision stops acting like a five year old and lets Tim Schafer, one of the most jinxed developers in gaming, release this game. Come on Activision, FREE BRUTAL LEGEND!

Alone in the Dark Review (Xbox 360)

By Joe Haygood | October 27, 2008

Alone in the Dark is suppose to be a return to glory for a game long forgotten. It is also suppose to be a game that returns fortune to Atari’s somewhat tarnished brand. The Alone in the Dark franchise has sat for some time now, its last outing coming in the form of a horrible movie, directed by Uwe Boll. Atari has put a lot of work into reviving this franchise, to the point of making it a flagship release for the company. While it delivers on providing an enjoyable, mature storyline, the game’s mechanics get in the way at every turn, giving the player more frustration than enjoyment.

Alone in the Dark starts off by setting up the mood perfectly, with you coming out of a drug induced sleep, captured by some people that want a stone medallion. While attempting to find the stone, you friend Theophile Paddington releases the evil that is in the stone to free your character, Edward Carnby from its influence. With that one moment, the demons of hell break out of their containment in the stone and release their fury on the human populace of Earth. Quickly, you are delivered into the action and the chase to find out who you are and how you can stop the apocalypse that has fallen upon New York City.

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The Witcher Enhanced Edition Released

By Joe Haygood | September 17, 2008

For those that did not buy The Witcher when it was released in late 2007, they truly mised out on a great RPG. Despite its flaws, it told a great story, and for once, had real time encounters with NPCs. Wait too long, and you would miss out on the person you needed to contact.

However, the game shipped a bit buggy, and of course, because Americans can handle tons of violence, but cringe at the sight of a nipple, the US version was censored as well. Throw in a rather cryptic potion system, and it was a bit much for the average gamer to swallow, no matter how well the game was raved and reviewed.

Now with the Enhanced Edition of The Witcher, you can be guaranteed, that this version is “Witchy Enough”. You get a music CD, hint book, art book, and other assorted goodies, for a nice price of $39.99. The game has been graphically tweaked, completely re-recorded dialoge, and the uncensored playing cards are back (yay!). The game can be found on Steam and in retail outlets for $39.99.

Also, if you bought The Witcher last year, and feel like you got screwed over by this new, completely Witchied edition of The Witcher, don’t feel bad. Previous owners will be able to download all the new content for free on September 19th, which is the European launch.

Eden Games to Fix Alone in the Dark on the 360

By Joe Haygood | August 21, 2008

Eden Games is showing off the PS3 version of Alone in the Dark at the Leipzig Games Convention, but the issues with the game on other platforms came up for discussion. Eden did address the issues that people have had with control schemes, driving, camera angles and pretty much everything else in the game.

Eden Games said that they are currently working on a patch, but they only seemed to mention the 360 version of the game, leaving those that are stuck with a Wii or PC version out in a lurch. I do not know if the Wii supports download patching, but I do know that the PC does, yet it is conspicuosly absent in this discussion.

No word on a timeframe for the patch, or what it will fix (everything needs to be fixed), but at least they are working on something for one of the platforms. Eurogamer did seem to have some good word on the PS3 version, since its released was delayed behind the other platforms. Maybe some extra time in the oven helped the game development.

Aeropodcast #45: Fourhman’s Ode to the 70’s

By Joe Haygood | August 18, 2008

Stephen, Joe and Fourhman are together again for a festivus of games, news and even some 70’s goodness.

Our focus this week is on developers getting a bit sensitive, or maybe reviewers being a little to cynical when it comes to their games, and the criticism they may receive. Our targets for the segment are Denis Dyack invading NeoGAF, Jonathan Blow and his defense over the pricing of Braid, and last is Luc Bernard and his vocal opposition to Destructoid’s review of Eternity’s Child. Is this a trend for developers to get into the fray and defend their product, or maybe reviewers are becoming more jaded as more shovelware is tossed upon them, looking to be reviewed. We also ask everyone to visit the show notes and check out the ultimate in developer/press battles, which was Derek Smart vs everyone in defense of Battlecruiser 3000AD.

We also got another great review on iTunes from Pax Rabbit, brought up some great reviews from the site, scathing commentary from the readers, and a nice helping of gaming news. So get out there and listen already, Dumbass.

Thanks as always to Mixmaster Stephen and his wheels of steel for mixing the podcast this week, and to Revolution Void for our bumper music. You can find them at www.revolutionvoid.com.

Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes and Digg the podcast.

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