Who will be the PS3 NCAA Football 09 cover athlete?
April 17, 2008 by pastapadre · 55 Comments
On Tuesday I went over the top candidates for the Madden 09 cover. That, along with the PS3 cover of NCAA Football 09, are expected to be announced late next week. With the most obvious cover athlete candidate Darren McFadden already announced as exclusive to the 360 it opens up the opportunity for another high profile player to take the PS3 cover. EA Sports has stated that each cover will represent a different region so with McFadden the south is already taken. Lets look at the most likely candidates.
Another Prizefighter preview
April 17, 2008 by pastapadre · 25 Comments
Eurogamer has posted up their preview of Prizefighter. You can check it out in full here. This follows the IGN preview which expressed some gameplay concerns but seemed encouraged by the story mode and presentation.
The alarming thing that came out of this preview is the news that losing a fight will result in your career being over.
As interesting as the documentary style of the game is, it’s also a somewhat limiting factor, since the developer hasn’t created any branching storyline elements within the format. Lose a fight, and you don’t get to stage a comeback - you just get a Game Over.
That basically means it would leave people resetting their console at the signs of it happening or going back to a previous save. Not exactly an ideal way to play a game. I believe there will be at least one scripted loss in the story (citing the corrupt judges) so it won’t necessarily mean a 50 win streak. I didn’t mind the linear storyline as it seems quite intriguing as is, but knowing it all ends due to an unscripted loss is bothersome to hear.
Take Two stockholder meeting today
April 17, 2008 by pastapadre · 24 Comments
The annual Take Two stockholder meeting is scheduled to take place later today beginning at 6:30et/3:30pt. You’ll be able to listen in live here. Normally this would just be business as usual however the looming takeover attempt by EA is prominent. Potentially something dramatic could happen such as a new board being elected (it happened last year) that is open to the bid. Or the stockholders could vote in a poison pill that would make it more difficult for EA to succeed at least at the current bid of $26 per share.
The deadline that has been placed on the EA offer which had been extended to expire at the end of the day tomorrow has essentially been extended further. The FTC has made a second request for more information on the potential transaction. It isn’t expected that there will be any difficulty with an anti-competitive ruling. This is especially true after the recent Sirius-XM merger was cleared which could’ve signaled that some hurdles would’ve been ahead if it hadn’t.
At the very least it should be interesting, whether something dramatic happens or nothing at all. A resolution one way or the other will occur soon.
In other (and possibly related) news it appears that Take Two/2K Sports has delayed Top Spin 3 from its May 20th release date to June 24th. It could simply be a coincidence. Yet 2K Sports has no games currently scheduled to release between now and Prizefighter on June 10th. That could present a comfortable buffer for any transition that would take place with an EA purchase of the company. Combined with the end of the College Hoops franchise and no All-Pro Football the overall 2K Sports lineup has really thinned out. The main concentration surrounding an EA takeover would obviously center around Grand Theft Auto IV initially.
Check back for any updates out of the stockholder meeting during or following its completion.
Update: Nothing of much significance came out of the meeting other than the further declaration that the Take Two board believes the offered share price is below value for the company. Further developments are sure to arise in the coming days.
New Facebreaker trailer
April 17, 2008 by pastapadre · 20 Comments
The first full trailer for Facebreaker has arrived. As opposed to the previous teaser this one shows off actual in-ring action. Several previously unknown personalities, some of the venues, and lots of over-the-top action are on display. Continue on to view the trailer.
