Activision cans Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend?

Riddick is 99% complete, so they'll find another publisher for it

That's what a Starbreeze employee on the Team Xbox forums said, and he said it should be out by the end of 08
 
Riddick's gonna come out one way or another. A Starbreeze employee over at Team Xbox said that the game's 99% done
 
[quote name='Scorch']don't kid yourself, no one's working on starcraft ghost[/quote]

Sorry. I was hoping that would have gotten more laughs.
 
To editorialize that a little: I have no clue why they wouldn't want to publish Ghostbusters, or Brutal Legend even. Those games have crazy hype behind them, and the Ghostbusters game is getting good press. What the fuck kind of hype is there surrounding Spyro? Really? The gay dragon franchise looks more like an ROI cash cow that the freaking GHOSTBUSTERS??
 
The word from Activision CEO is that Activision is going to try to sell Sierra, according to NextGen. I suspect they are going to poach a few titles/franchises before they do.

But, most of these articles about the publishing is directly related to games that came into the house on the ActiBlizzendi merger, and they're just choosing which titles or franchises they actually want to publish, the rest they will have another publisher take, or leave that to whomever buys Sierra. Again, it seems silly that they wouldn't want to keep (at least) Ghostbusters in-house.
 
Damn, this sucks major balls. I really wanted to see a next gen Riddick and Leisure Suit Larry game. If I'm not mistaken, didn't Activison have a E3 showing of Ghostbusters.

Anyway, I guess I'll cancel my preorder for World in Conflict......fuck!
 
I wonder if that's why Ghostbusters wasn't at Comc Con this year.

They better not be cancelling these games or I'm sending Activision a box of the plague.
 
[quote name='evyrew']Most of those games were very close to being finished... It doesn't make sense. There's always a chance that they will sell the franchises or hand the responsibility to "other publishing arms like Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Value."

Lets hope that this is a case of corporate miscommunication.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, those are probably the most likely scenarios. Except for the other publishing arms thing, as Blizzard has a reputation to keep up, making them unlikely to take those games, and Activision Value primarily releases Activision's sub-$20 shovelware titles or budget-line re-releases. So...
a) It is possible that Activision simply has yet to decide whether or not to put them on the release list.
b) They could sell off the titles to other publishers. I'd imagine that Ghostbusters and Riddick would go for some tidy sums due to the licenses attached. Brutal Legend has received some attention lately, and that would attract some buyers
c) It's also a possibility that Activision is creating a new publishing brand for these titles.
 
Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters are still big wants for me. Is there somewhere we can start emailing the company to show our support for some of these possibly cancelled games?
 
On the one hand, you really can't blame them for picking up safe IPs. Stuff like Ice Age and Crash will sell, no matter how bad the games are. Brutal Legend is a new IP, and Ghostbusters is an IP that has been dormant since the early '90s, so it's not surprising that they don't want to touch those.

But I wouldn't worry too much. Double Fine said on their blog that BL is not in danger of being canceled, and Ghostbusters has a bunch of heat behind it, considering it's essentially the third movie.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Ghostbusters is an IP that has been dormant since the early '90s, so it's not surprising that they don't want to touch those.[/QUOTE]

That's true...but given the hype the game's been getting online and at Comic-Con and that the franchise has held up well enough so that you can still get the DVD or an Ecto-1 or ghost logo t-shirt from pretty much any Target or Wal-Mart, I'd say that your second point's more accurate, that the "bunch of heat" should be enough to push the game.

I was thrilled to hear about the project even when it was unofficial (remember that proof of concept Zootfly video?), and if this doesn't make it out of development I'm going to be crushed. There's a lot of potential here for a very good game and a good way of continuing the franchise - even if it is just for one more installment - and it'd be a damn shame to let that go away.
 
Don't get me wrong...I am very excited about the GB game. I have had it pre-ordered since it was officially announced. I was just pointing out that you can understand why a publisher would be a bit hesitant about it. I think the amount of attention it has gotten, though, especially without a massive hype machine publisher behind it, is proof enough that it will be released by someone.
 
Ghostbusters will come out. This is all rumors and miscommunication. Now, I'm not saying *everything* is safe, just Ghostbusters. Whether the game is terrible or not, they'd be absolutely batshit insane to can it. You advertise it as GB3, publicize how many actors are returning, you're guaranteed to sell enough to recoup the cost. It's the definition of no-brainer. It even already has hype... major outlets ran the story about Rick Moranis turning down the offer to be in the game. Ghostbusters is a franchise that has been dormant by choice, not by public indifference.

Brutal Legend, on the other hand, I can easily see getting canned. I love Tim Schafer, I really do, but there's nothing in this that a corporation looks at and goes 'oh, yeah, that's a money maker'. It's by a guy who has a track record of great, but poorly-selling games, it's about old school heavy metal, which doesn't help or appeal to the corporation's 'target audience', and it has Jack Black, who is likely to turn away just as many people as he brings in. This is a game for an older niche audience of gamers, which doesn't really help when your goal is money, not praise.

... oh, and isn't that Riddick game just an update of the last-gen one? I liked Butcher Bay, but I'm in the camp going 'who gives a shit?'.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']I hate Activision. They are the worst publisher, if you ask me.[/quote]

Well I hate Activision about as much as they hate new IPs. Take that.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']I don't know about anyone else, but WiC: Soviet Assault getting put into limbo is pretty disappointing, as well.[/quote]
Hopefully THQ will pick it up, they seem to publish at lot of PC games.
 
Another thing we have not mentioned yet is that the Ghostbuster Blu-rays have a tentative release set for October, so there is even more juice for the franchise.
 
http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26518112&part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6195236

Currently Activision is exploring its options regarding what to do with the games that it won't be releasing, options which presumably include selling the projects to other publishers. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Variety is reporting that Brutal Legend is "very close" to finding a new publisher.

Without actually citing any source for the information, the trade publication is reporting that Double Fine has found a likely partner to help put the game out. The deal is said to be a "more 'unique' arrangement" with a partner who isn't a traditional game publisher.
Click to expand...
:whistle2:k
 
That is weird. Initially, I thought that meant Double Fine would be an EA partner but they there's nothing non-traditional about that at all. Maybe Gamecock?
 
Soooooooooooooo...it looks like this nonsense has potentially pushed the GB game back to '09, as they look for a new publisher. Also, Columbia Pictures just hired the writers of The Office to pen a script for a third film.
 
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I still maintain that the GB *will* come out at some point, but now that all this time has passed, it really begs the question of 'what happened?'.

A game this big should've been an easy 'keeper' for Activision. They didn't want it. It should've been an easy 'pick-up' for ANY publisher. They still haven't found one, months after the fact.

So, what's the snag? A property like GB shouldn't even be facing these questions, let alone go 'homeless' for as long as it has now.

What I'm becoming increasingly worried about is... well... maybe the game sucks. Maybe, thoughout all the great screenshots we've seen and talk of the cast coming back and the original story by Ackroyd and Ramis, maybe the game itself just didn't come together well. I mean, what else could it be? Hell, if Brutal Legend, a new IP by a guy whose last games haven't exactly set the world on fire, can get picked up already, there's got to be some massive problem with GB.

It could just be money issues, or a dozen other problems. Really, though, at this point... maybe the game is terrible and no one wants to take on the burden of fixing it. Of course, if that's the case, then it's REALLY got to be bad, since it's a property that sells on name alone.
 
[quote name='007']I still maintain that the GB *will* come out at some point, but now that all this time has passed, it really begs the question of 'what happened?'.

A game this big should've been an easy 'keeper' for Activision. They didn't want it. It should've been an easy 'pick-up' for ANY publisher. They still haven't found one, months after the fact.

So, what's the snag? A property like GB shouldn't even be facing these questions, let alone go 'homeless' for as long as it has now.

What I'm becoming increasingly worried about is... well... maybe the game sucks. Maybe, thoughout all the great screenshots we've seen and talk of the cast coming back and the original story by Ackroyd and Ramis, maybe the game itself just didn't come together well. I mean, what else could it be? Hell, if Brutal Legend, a new IP by a guy whose last games haven't exactly set the world on fire, can get picked up already, there's got to be some massive problem with GB.

It could just be money issues, or a dozen other problems. Really, though, at this point... maybe the game is terrible and no one wants to take on the burden of fixing it. Of course, if that's the case, then it's REALLY got to be bad, since it's a property that sells on name alone.[/quote]

The gameplay mechanics are probably too tricky to work out.

Hell they couldn't even get the Matrix games quite right, and that movie was tailor-made for a videogame translation.
 
Certainly are valid concerns, in my opinion. Then again, they are still having a problem finding a publisher for Soviet Assault, I believe, and I don't see why that would an issue, either. World in Conflict was a great game and sold pretty well. Even if this expansion is just more of the same, you'd think a publisher wouldn't mind putting it out.
 
[quote name='007']I still maintain that the GB *will* come out at some point, but now that all this time has passed, it really begs the question of 'what happened?'.

A game this big should've been an easy 'keeper' for Activision. They didn't want it. It should've been an easy 'pick-up' for ANY publisher. They still haven't found one, months after the fact.

So, what's the snag? A property like GB shouldn't even be facing these questions, let alone go 'homeless' for as long as it has now.

What I'm becoming increasingly worried about is... well... maybe the game sucks. Maybe, thoughout all the great screenshots we've seen and talk of the cast coming back and the original story by Ackroyd and Ramis, maybe the game itself just didn't come together well. I mean, what else could it be? Hell, if Brutal Legend, a new IP by a guy whose last games haven't exactly set the world on fire, can get picked up already, there's got to be some massive problem with GB.

It could just be money issues, or a dozen other problems. Really, though, at this point... maybe the game is terrible and no one wants to take on the burden of fixing it. Of course, if that's the case, then it's REALLY got to be bad, since it's a property that sells on name alone.[/quote]

Considering how many crap titles come out each year, I doubt that is what is stopping the game from being picked up.

Well unless it is E.T. all over again, but I highly doubt that...
 
Well I have some "inside" news for you guys. Just got back from the Gamestop managers conference, and while I was there I did get it out of an Activision employee that Ghostbusters will indeed come out next year. The game is actually completed but they have elected to not release it this year. I could not get it out of him as to why, but keep your eye out for Ghostbusters next fall.
 
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