Archive for May, 2009

Spike Announces E3 First Look Special1 Comment

Next week we’re putting together a huge party on Spike to celebrate the kick-off of E3.  Today we released the first details on the show and there’s much more to come.  Read below and stay tuned!

SPIKE TV BLOWS THE DOORS OPEN ON E3 2009 WITH HOUR-LONG VGA FIRST-LOOK SPECIAL

“GTTV’s” Geoff Keighley, Rose McGowan And Tricia Helfer Unveil More Than 15 Blockbuster World Premieres And Breaking News In HD

Spike And Gametrailers.com Kick Off The Best And Most Extensive E3 Video Game Coverage

Major Games Set To World Premiere Include MASS EFFECT 2; RATCHET & CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME; The Playable Joker In BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM; DJ HERO; SPLIT/SECOND; ALIENS VS. PREDATOR And More Than 10 Others

“’GameTrailers TV’ Presents: The 2009 VGAs-E3 First Look Special” Premieres Thursday, May 28 At 11:00 PM ET/PT On Spike TV

NEW YORK, May 21, 2009 —  Spike TV and GameTrailers.com,  the leading on-air and online destinations for year-round video game programming, announced today the most comprehensive video game coverage plan in the network’s history. Spike’s unparalleled multi-platform coverage will kick-off the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The network will debut “GameTrailers TV Presents: The 2009 VGAs-E3 First Look Special,” a blow-out hour-long preview special that teams up with leading game publishers to unveil the most anticipated games of E3 before the game industry’s biggest trade show even opens.  The special marks the kick off to the “2009 Video Game Awards” which will air LIVE in December from Los Angeles.  In addition, GameTrailers.com will provide wall-to-wall, 24-hour coverage including high-definition gameplay videos, interviews and live, commercial-free streams of the five major press conferences from Xbox, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sony and Nintendo.

“Every day of the year Spike is the #1 place guys go for gaming info across our hit brands like GameTrailers TV, “The Video Game Awards,” GameTrailers.com and video game launch specials,” said Kevin Kay, president, Spike TV.  “No other network comes close to our reach or impact and our plans for E3 2009 prove why Spike is the undisputed leader in the space.”

The E3 invasion begins on Thursday May 28 at 11:00 PM ET/PT, when Spike TV premieres “GameTrailers TV Presents: The 2009 VGAs-E3 First Look Special” from the Los Angeles Convention Center, the site of E3 2009.  Hosts Geoff Keighley and actress Rose McGowan (TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE VIDEOGAME) are joined by actress Tricia Helfer,

GameTrailers.com’s Amanda MacKay and Daniel Kayser, rabid video game fans, special celebrity guests and big-name game developers for world premieres of more than 15 of the most anticipated E3 games.  In addition, Spike will reveal the first details about their “2009 Video Game Awards,” the biggest celebration of gaming on the planet.

Titles set to world premiere new content include: BioWare’s epic sci-fi role playing game MASS EFFECT 2; the worldwide debut of RATCHET & CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME; the playable Joker in BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM; new footage from BRUTAL LEGEND starring Jack Black; the first look at DJ HERO; the debut of JUST CAUSE 2; first-person fighting in NHL 10; the realistic racing of NEED FOR SPEED SHIFT; brand new characters revealed in MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 2; a blockbuster MADDEN NFL 10 announcement; an exclusive new look at UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES; a preview of the E3 trailer for DANTE’S INFERNO; the first gameplay from the action-racer SPLIT/SECOND; the dark heroic fantasy of BioWare’s DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS; the premiere of new level from LOST PLANET 2; the first-ever footage of ALIENS VS. PREDATOR; the gameplay premiere of the racing game BLUR from Bizarre Creations; plus new details on MODERN WARFARE 2 from Infinity Ward and more surprise reveals still to be announced.

“We’re grateful that so many publishers have chosen to share sneak previews of their biggest E3 titles first with Spike and GameTrailers,” said Geoff Keighley, executive in charge of publisher relations, Spike.  “Spike is supporting the industry’s biggest tradeshow with our largest on-air commitment yet, and this is just the start of an amazing back-half of the year for video game programming on Spike.”

During E3, the action continues at GameTrailers.com, the internet’s leading destination for game media.  Last year the site garnered an industry-leading 58 million views of E3-related content.  At GameTrailers, viewers can watch E3 the way they want to, on-demand, with 24-hours of continuous HD coverage including developer walkthroughs, gameplay videos, interviews, live streams of the five major press conferences and a special episode of the roundtable talk show “The Bonus Round.”

“E3 is the biggest week of the year for GameTrailers.com and this year we are going to offer the best coverage of E3 by combining on-air and online resources to deliver a one-stop shop for gamers,” said Jon Slusser, senior vice president of digital and video games, Spike, and executive producer, GTTV.

On Thursday, June 4th, Spike TV gives E3 a send-off with a special wrap-up episode of  “Game Trailers TV With Geoff Keighley” at 12:30 AM ET/PT.  Shot on location during E3, GTTV grills the top executives from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft to get the real story on the future of each gaming console. In addition, viewers will see world premieres not shown at E3, including FIFA 2010 from EA Sports.

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  • Will the hour long preview special be available on GameTrailers.com after it airs like the other episodes? I'd really like … More»
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3D Realms Statement on Duke Forever8 Comments

See the below statement just sent to me by George Broussard:

3D Realms Release – Pertaining to Recent Events Surrounding Duke Nukem Forever

Dallas, TX (May 18, 2009) – In light of recent press articles and statements by Take-Two (to the media and in a lawsuit), we want to set the record straight on some issues.

Despite rumors and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing. 3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise.  Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) development team go on May 6th, while we regroup as a company. While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise.

As some of you may know, Take-Two filed a lawsuit last week containing various accusations and claims against 3DR and the uncompleted DNF game. Take-Two never paid 3DR advances or any signing bonus or any other funds related to DNF, up until July 2008, at which time they paid $2.5m in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game.  This is the sum total Take-Two has paid 3DR in connection with DNF.  Take-Two claims that they paid $12m to GT Interactive/Infogrames to acquire the publishing rights for the DNF game. To be clear, 3DR was not a party to that transaction and did not receive any money from it.  When the DNF game was originally signed with GT Interactive in 1998, GT paid 3DR a $400,000 signing bonus. Up until July 2008, this was the only publisher money we received for the DNF game.  Meanwhile, 3DR put over $20m into the production of DNF.

Take-Two retains publishing rights for the DNF game, although 3DR retains certain rights to sell the game directly to the public.  Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game. In the meantime, 3DR was hitting mutually-agreed milestones, despite not having a new agreement finalized.  Take-Two was well aware that 3DR needed the funding to continue the DNF game development.  Suddenly, after months of negotiations, Take-Two materially changed the parameters of the proposed funding agreement.  3DR informed Take-Two that it could not financially afford the changes Take-Two was suggesting and would be forced to release the team if an agreement was not reached. Take-Two made a last minute proposal to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise and the 3DR development team.  Take-Two’s proposal was unacceptable to 3DR for many reasons, including no upfront money, no guarantee minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game. From 3DR’s perspective, we viewed Take-Two as trying to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise in a “fire sale.” Those negotiations fell through on May 4th, a deal never materialized, and the DNF team was sadly released a few days later.

Less than a week after the DNF team was released, Take-Two filed its lawsuit in New York, seeking immediate temporary injunctive relief.  The court denied Take-Two’s request for a temporary restraining order.  While we cannot comment on the details of the ongoing lawsuit, we believe Take-Two’s lawsuit is without merit and merely a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher.


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Bonus Round E3 Preview BeginsNo Comments

The E3 Expo is only a month away, and this episode of the Bonus Round on GameTrailers.com is devoted to previewing what you can expect from the industry’s biggest trade show.  Joining me for the discussion are Andy McNamara, Editor-in-Chief of Game Informer; Brian Crecente, Managing Editor of Kotaku; and noted video game journalist N’Gai Croal. You can watch part 1 below via our embeddable GT player:

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