Video Game News

Anarchy Enterprises announces Coffee Tycoon

Now here's an interesting concept:

http://www.coffeetycoon.net/

I've got to admit, it would have been a long brainstorming session before *I* thought of choosing coffee as the industry of choice for a business sim.

2K Sports signs World Poker Tour license

2K Games has snagged a license to produce World Poker Tour titles. PC, console, and handheld video games are in development at Coresoft and Backbone.

Meanwhile, if you're looking to play online, don't miss out on the bonuses that are available:

http://www.classic-games.com/poker/bonuses.html

XBox power cords recalled

Microsoft is recalling the power cords on XBox's made before October 23, 2003 due to a fire hazard:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/news/0502/powercordannouncement.htm

You can get a replacement cord via Microsoft's website for the XBox:

http://replacements.webprogram.com/en-us/programoverview.asp

Rumors fly over EA and Ubisoft

The rumors and uncertainly persist with regard to the EA/Ubisoft situation:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6923

David De Martini on The Godfather

Gamesindustry.biz has an interview with David De Martini of Electronic Arts on the topic of The Godfather:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6930

Chinese "cyber cafe" crackdown

So is the Chinese crack-down on so-called "cyber cafes" an attempt to crush political dissent, or an attempt to tell Joe Citizen what to do "for the good of the kids"? Red Herring jumps into the fray:

http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=11300&hed=%e2%80%98Wangba%e2%80%99+crusade

Half-Life 2 picks up six GDC nominations

Half-Life 2 has received six nominations for the Game Developers' Choice awards: Best Game, Character Design, Game Design, Technology, Visual Arts, and Writing:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6836

Other Best Game nominess were GTA: San Andreas, Katamari Damacy, World of Warcraft, and Burnout 3.

Radio Free Zion

You've all heard of "The Matrix Online" by now, the much-anticipated graphical mud based on "The Matrix" and its sequels. Well, a group of players have started a 24/7 webcast in support of the player community, Radio Free Zion:

http://www.radiofreezion.com/

World of Warcraft debuts to big sales in Europe

Blizzard's graphical mud "World of Warcraft" debuted with an estimated 280K copies sold in the first 24 hours following its European release. The Warcraft franchise continues to roll...

Atari to release another Matrix game

Atari plans to release 'The Matrix: Path of Neo' in Q4 2005. The follow-up to 2003's 'Enter the Matrix' will allow gamers to play as Neo in key scenes from the movie trilogy.

The military and video games

Strategy Page has a short article on the military benefits of video games:

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200521223.asp

(Be warned: they have those annoying DHTML pseudo-pop-up ads.)

News flash: game piracy rampant in China and Malaysia

I know you're all shocked:

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=8954

Activision stock plummets on insider sales

Video game publisher Activision announced that several top executives had sold over seven million shares recently. Investors reacted predictably:

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=8953

Electronic Arts to grab more of Ubisoft?

An EA filing in France indicates that they may look to expand their Ubisoft holdings:

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml;JMNTFDDLQGNJQCRBAEZSFEY?type=mergersNews&storyID=7583228&section=investing

The end of Ion Storm

Ion Storm is no more. Eidos is consolidating some of its studios in attempt to become more competitive:

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6765