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

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

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.