Although losing money is never good for a company, EA is reporting a loss of only $6 million for their fist quarter. Good news for the struggling publisher. It is a significant improvement over EA’s loss of $135 million from last year, which was the result of poor sales.

The improvement is believed to be the result of cost cutting, and good sales for Sim 3 and other recent titles. I am personally happy to hear they are bouncing back. They have been one of the more creative publishers in the past few years. Whether their latest titles will do well enough to carry them into better numbers, we will have to wait and see. Brutal Legend, Dante’s Inferno, and Left 4 Dead 2 are just a few of the anticipated games.

G4

Today EA officially announced it’s third quarter financial results, and boy do they look bad. EA revealed a total loss of $641 million in it’s third quarter and has announced that they will be cutting costs as a result. 12 Electronic Arts facilities are closing down and roughly 11% of it’s employees are going to be laid off. They will also be pushing back the release of few major titles including The Sims 3.

As you may have guessed EA has been crushed by these third quarter results, as they were expecting better. “Our holiday quarter came in below our expectations and we have significantly reduced our financial outlook for fiscal 2009, a clear disappointment,” said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer. “We delivered on game quality and innovation in calendar 2008, with 13 titles rated 80 or above — more than any third-party publisher. We expect to build on this great quality record in the year ahead while delivering more profitability.”

I personally am surprised by this news as EA has been one of the strongest publishers of 2008. Left 4 Dead, Mirrors Edge, Dead Space are just a few of the titles they have put out last year.

Source

If you ever wished you could sing along side the Phantom of the Opera or belt out a classic song from Cats, then this isn’t the blog for you! Nonetheless a batch of classic musicals from the famed composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber will be making their way into the gaming industry, thanks to The Really Useful Group (that is really their name).

The group founded in 1977 manages all of Andy’s interests and they have been speaking to multiple video game developers, one of them said to be EA. The group is planning on developing multiple Webber titles into games (Oh goody) for consoles, PCs, and cellular devices.

There are two major reasons the group felt prompted to take a chance on the gaming industry; one was because of the growing popularity of video games with women and the other was because of the current popularity of music-themed video games.

Since its stock has recently slumped, the uber successful video game publisher Electronic Arts is up for grabs and what major company would have the backbone to do so you ask?  Well Disney of course who else! Thanks to a Variety story a rumor cloud has started to swirl around the idea of Disney possibly buying EA.

Since EA’s stock is down 67% off its 52 week high, some analysts believe that it could be snatched up by Disney whose stock is slumping as well, just not quite as badly. Disney’s stock is down 37% off their 52 week high and since Disney has already shown a vast interest in the gaming industry - purchasing EA could just give the company the boost it needs.

Since video games are doing much better than film, music and other major industries right now, Disney could very well purchase EA so that they can get a bigger chunk of the cash cow. At this point this is only speculation, from what we have surmised, Disney has said nothing about an interest in acquiring EA but  some analysts think it could happen.

Here is the link to the story in Variety

A new Sims 3 trailer has been released and it looks promising! This new trailer is all about the customization, and it looks pretty extensive. Unlike the previous trailer released from Electronic Arts this one is free of weirdness. Just a basic trailer that features the vast customization options of the new Sims 3 title.

The video starts with the different options you will have in designing your character then it shows how your options broaden to your house and car. The customization seems very in depth, so much so that you will even be able to choose the type of fabric for your furniture, and paint detail for your car.

Since Sims fans are all about the options it seems from this trailer they will be getting it! The Sims 3 Drops February 09!

Here is the link to Kotaku’s Tariler

The Dead Walk RUN
The creators of Half Life Valve, have brought us the FPS survival horror title Left 4 Dead. Within this four person co-op title you fend off oceans of the living dead, who certainly don’t drag their feet when the dinner bell rings.  There are many reasons why this game stands alone from other survival horror titles, and why it is most likely going to become one of the greats within the genre. Today, Left 4 Dead infects the store shelves (Nov. 18th), and the survival horror genre in a big way.

The Infection
The story begins within a city completely annihilated by a zombie infection. You will have the option to play as four separate characters. Bill the Vietnam Vet, Louis the IT guy, Zoey the college student and horror film fanatic, and Francis the bar brawling biker. Each has their own unique skills that aid one another in their survival. The Infected (which you can play as as well) are the living dead creatures that have ransacked the city. They consist of the Horde (your basic zombies that accumulate in large groups and attack any living thing), and then the mutated zombies, such as the Witch (big claws and completely crazy), the Boomer (don’t shoot this one up close), the Tank (which is basically a Mack truck with arms), and other types as well.  The game’s plot line is  surprisingly simple. The goal is to survive, and the only way to achieve that is through teamwork.

Three Four is the magic number
As said before there are four major characters within the game who progress as a team to survive. Each teammate has a colored outline that it visible through walls that changes status to indicate danger or injury so you are able to know where your teammates are at all times and whether they are in need of help. Your teammates will assist you in gunning down zombie, healing your injuries, and helping you recover from attacks. You will want to do the same for them because if you loose any member of your team you will loose firepower. The game is primarily a first person shooter in which you fend of a droves of zombies. The monotony is broken up by the mutated zombies each one with their own unique abilities that are potentially devastating to your team; for example the Hunter which can pin you or anyone one of your teammates. In this instance when mutated zombies attack you or your team you must act quickly or you may loose a teammate, or be killed yourself.

There are four basic phases of the campaign mode of the game; No Mercy (urban Setting), Death Toll (suburban setting), Dead Air (air port), and Blood Harvest (a rural setting).  Each has it’s own challenges, and obstacles, in which teamwork is required to survive. The unique thing about Left 4 Dead that sets it apart from other survival horror games is the “AI Director”, which adjusts intensity and frequency of zombie attacks according to your performance. The “AI Director” will change themes, ambiance, and moves zombies, and ammo to different locations within the maps so each mode of the game is never the same when you replay it.

The versus mode will allow up to 8 players; in which you will be able to play as the four survivors, or as four of the infected. Playing as the infected in this mode will allow you to play as the mutated zombies each one with its own unique ability.

Here’s the Deal!
The four person co-op is one of the best aspects of this game. I personally believe this is one of the few games within the survival horror genre that has capitalized on it.  The other and most unique aspect is the “AI Director” with this you will never play the game the same twice. These are the two strongest pillars of this title and the reason why it is truly great. If you are a fan of FPS or Survival horror you will want to pick this game up you will be getting hours of enjoyment from it.  Valve has given us a great title in the survival horror genre. We give Left 4 Dead an A+ rating.

Today the demo for the highly anticipated FPS zombie horror title Left 4 Dead has become available. Any individual who has already purchased the title will be able to access the demo, the full demo will become available to the public Nov. 11th.

Left 4 Dead is the first person Zombie shooter published by Electronic Arts. It has generated a great deal of buzz for it’s concept, and type of game play.  The game will feature a four person co-op, and you will have the option to play as the living or the living dead.

For fans of FPS, and Survival Horror games this demo should help curve the hunger for zombie carnage, until the games release date.  The full demo goes worldwide Nov. 11th, and  will run through till Nov. 18th. Left 4 Dead will hit the shelves Nov. 17th.

Here is a link to Steam to download the demo

These are in my humble opinion the five must have upcoming survival horror games. This is for the zombie slayers, monster hunters, and lovers of mayhem.  It was our intention to post this video on Halloween, but better late than never.

Enjoy

Click here to see the top 5 must have upcoming survival horror games.

For any of you who are in the dark about this here is a quick recap. Earlier this month we did a story on how Barack Obama was the first Presidential Candidate in History to campaign through ‘in-game’ advertising.  Obama’s mug can now be seen in 18 Electronic Arts titles that he had bought advertising rights within.  Xbox Live will be hosting the ads and they will be running until November 3rd. Holly Rockwood, the director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts stated “I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising.”

At the time Rockwood would not reveal how much the Senator had paid for these advertisements, but since the Obama campaign’s filling with the General Election Commission that figure has been revealed. Obama paid $44,465 smackers for in-game advertising with EA; not too expensive when you consider he is paying a cool million for each TV spot.

EA is not officially endorsing Obama, as Rockwood was quoted as saying “these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.”  According to GamePolitics some of EA’s higher-ups’ are Obama supporters. One of them being CEO John Riccitiello who has donated $4,600 to the Obama Campaign.

This Sunday, August 31^st, 2008 marks the 13^th anniversary of the storied Command & Conquer franchise, which has sold over 25 million copies* to date.  And to celebrate Sunday’s milestone and this October’s highly anticipated return to the world of Red Alert with Red Alert 3, EA Los Angeles is giving away one of the original games that started it all, Command & Conquer Red Alert, for FREE.  

Starting at 12:00 AM Pacific time on August 31^st, C&C fanatics can flock to www.RedAlert3.com to download the original Red Alert free of charge.  And because EA is also offering Red Alert 2 for free for those who pre-order Red Alert 3 before October 27^th, C&C fans can walk away with Red Alert, Red Alert 2 and Red Alert 3 - all for the price of Red Alert 3 ($49.99 standard edition, $64.99 Premier Edition). 

To take advantage of this three-for-one offer, just follow the “Red Alert 3 Step”:

• Step 1 - Download the original Red Alert from www.RedAlert3.com starting Sunday, August 31^st FOR FREE
• Step 2 - Pre-Order Red Alert 3 from participating retailers and receive Red Alert 2 FOR FREE
• Step 3 - Pick up your pre-ordered copy of Red Alert 3 when the game hits stores this holiday

Pre-ordering Red Alert 3 will also give gamers the following exclusive items:

• Red Alert Retrospective - A look back at Command Red Alert, Red Alert 2 and Yuri’s Revenge
• Premier Edition Sneak Peek - Exclusive previews of Raising of the Iron Curtain, From Pens to Pixels, Command School, and BattleCast Primetime
• From Fighter to Assassin - A featurette on EliteXC superstar, Gina Carano.
• Exclusive multiplayer/skirmish map for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 when the game ships
• Exclusive Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 desktop wallpapers featuring members of Red Alert 3’s star studded cast including Jenny McCarthy, Gemma Atkinson, Autumn Reeser, Kelly Hu and more!

Red Alert 3 is coming to stores this holiday season for the PC and Xbox 360. 

*Data according to NPD Group.