Well not officially, but according to ESPN.com EA sports is looking to reboot the franchise on the Wii console. The rights are up in the air right now due to the Activision/Midway sale last year, so there is an easy possibility that this game could get made. In the past years there have been many NBA Jam clones (NBA Street, NBA Hoopz and NBA Ballers) but none have really come close to the excitement of the original NBA Jam series. So here’s hope we get a new version, and as stated in the ESPN article, the creator of NBA Jam Mark Turmell has been hired to do the relaunch. Of course this is all rumors right now, but if it comes out and I can play as Bill Clinton or the Beastie Boys then consider it sold.

This has been a rough few years for Chicago, video-game developer-wise. EA Chicago, after making the brilliant Fight Night Round 3, shut their doors forever. Nerd City favorite MIdway Games, after a much-publicized financial collapse, even while still producing excellent games, filed for bankruptcy and is currently being auctioned off to Warner Bros. (See Nerd City’s coverage of the merger here). This does not neccessarily bode well for the Chicago-based office, and could result in the closing of one of the most important gaming companies in history.

Yet there is still hope. Robomodo, a Chicago-based video game company started by two casualties of the EA closing, is currently working on the new skateboard-peripheral based Tony Hawk game. If this game is a hit, which it could easily be, it would represent a new chapter in Chicago-based video game development, filling a much-needed void. So please buy Tony Hawk Ride when it comes out, and support your local video game company.

For more details on Robomodo, read  Jake Malooley’s excellent article in Time Out Chicago here.

The sale of Midway to Warner Brothers should become official in about 10 days. According to Midway spokesman, Geoffrey Mogilner, this will put the Mortal Kombat, This is Vegas, the Midway sports titles (i.e the Blitz: The League series), Midway arcade titles along with the Chicago and Seattle based studios. The San Diego and Newcastle studios are not included in the purchase. Also not included with the purchase would be the TNA license, which maybe we could get a good TNA game now. The purchase is slated to be for $33million.

After declaring bankruptcy last week, Midway has now be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. To me this unfortunately looks like a end of a once great company. But anythings possible so maybe we won’t see EA’s Mortal Kombat anytime soon.

Direct Youtube Link

Chicago video game publisher Midway Games announced today that Mortal Kombat Vs. DC has shipped close to two million copies. This is great news to hear, as Midway’s recent financial trouble has been well publicized. One of the most influential game developers in history, Midway is an integral part of Chicago’s Nerd scene. Please continue to support them and their games.

After a self-proclaimed “difficult time”, Chicago publisher Devil’s Due’s comic books are back in stores. With economic troubles facing several Chicago Nerd organizations (see Midway Games), it is now more important than ever to support your local nerdery. And with books like the soon-to-be-a-movie Hack/Slash and Heroes‘ Milo Ventimiglia’s Rest, Devil’s Due makes it easy. Buy D.D. @ Chicago Comics.

Man the video game industry is really taking a hit lately. First Midway starts closing down multiple development studios, now Free Radical has completely shut down. For those of you not familiar with Free Radical, the studio consisted of a team of developers that worked for Rare and created Goldeneye 64 and Perfect Dark 64. They created my favorite first person shooter series of all time and that was TimeSplitters. Combining fast action and over the top weapons and characters, it brought back the great times of sitting around my Nintendo 64 playing Goldeneye all night with my friends. So it is sad to hear that this studio closed, considering they were working on TimeSplitters 4 and a rumored Star Wars Battlefront game for LucasArts. So we bid you a fond farewell Free Radical, you supplied me and others with fantastic games. Hopefully these guys will find work at another studio and maybe we will still see the release of TimeSplitters 4.

Wow this wasn’t expected, but Sony has announced that full open beta for Playstation Home will be available for download starting tomorrow, Dec 11th. If you don’t know, Home is Sony’s attempt to bring a more social online gaming experience to their console. In the past if you wanted to meet people to play against you had to meet them in game and add them to your friends list, with Home you will be able to travel through a virtual world meeting new people all over the place. Whether it be in a bowling alley, arcade, clothing store or just the commons square; full interaction with as many people possible is available and will help you accumulate more “friends”. Now I have been in the beta for a few months now and maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really like it. I understand what Sony is going for and will probalby be more enjoyable as more people use the service, but right now it feels like second life and not much is really going on.

It is neat that you get to fully customize your avatars living quarters, looks and how they dress; and of course you will be able to buy new clothes and furnishings for you apartment through the playstation store for real money. So give it a try as it is free, you may get more enjoyment out of it then me. Official press release below:

PLAYSTATION®HOME BETA SERVICE WILL BECOME AVAILABLE TO ALL PLAYSTATION®3 USERS ON DECEMBER 11
Highly Anticipated Service Open For All PLAYSTATION 3 Users

Tokyo, Foster City, London, December 10, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that its highly anticipated PlayStation®Home Beta service for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) will become available for all PS3 users around the world *1 on December 11, 2008. Following the successful completion of the closed beta service, PlayStation Home’s open beta service will continue to evolve with new features and functionality.

PlayStation Home is a ground-breaking 3D social gaming community available on PS3 that allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. By leveraging the power of PS3, PlayStation Home delivers overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform. Within PlayStation Home, users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore the virtual community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice chat. PlayStation Home users will not only be able to enjoy variety of entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events along with their friends, but will also be able to create their own community by using the “Club*2” feature to create clubs with other PlayStation Home users who share the same interests. PlayStation Home also allows groups of users to launch directly into their favourite online games together from PlayStation Home.

PlayStation Home, available as a free download*3 starting December 11, will launch directly from the PlayStation Home icon on the PlayStation®Network column of XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) on PS3. Users will be able to experience basic features and services of PlayStation Home, free of charge*4. PlayStation Home will allow open interaction among users, business partners, and SCE, and will evolve with additional features including dedicated game spaces, special events and exclusive themed items, to further enrich the entertainment experience on the PS3 platform.

“PlayStation Home is truly a promising network community service on the PlayStation platform, made possible with the powerful combination of PS3’s overwhelming computational power and PlayStation Network that covers many countries around the globe,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCE. “We are committed to providing PS3 users with exciting gaming experiences with PlayStation Home and together with our partners and users, expand the new world of interactive entertainment as we move forward.”

For users accessing PlayStation Home in the Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) regions, themed virtual environments will be available to explore. Starting with a themed Far Cry 2 space, PlayStation Home will offer game inspired environments that allow people to discuss the specific games, plan strategies and access content and clues that will enhance the gaming experience. The number of gaming environments such as this will regularly increase, with spaces for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune™, Warhawk™, Motorstorm and SOCOM following very soon. SCEE is working with leading publishers such as: Electronic Arts, UBISOFT, Midway, Sega and Atari to create engaging environments that will provide users with an on-going gaming experience.

“We are very excited to be bringing PlayStation Home to Europe and the PAL territories, offering users an interactive, social, gaming experience,” said Daniel Hill, Home Service Manager, SCEE. “PlayStation Home is unique to anything else in the gaming world and by partnering with both global and regional gaming and non-gaming brands, we are able to offer exciting and entertaining content that will enhance the PlayStation experience.”

SCEE today also announced the first partnerships with some of the world’s most respected lifestyle brands for the Open Beta. Fashion leader Diesel, contemporary furniture designers Ligne Roset, energy drink Red Bull, film studio Paramount Pictures and video content providers Hexus TV and Eurogamer are the first on board. They will offer resident’s virtual clothing for their avatar, virtual furniture for their PlayStation Home apartments, exclusive video content and a virtual flying challenge: the Red Bull Air Race.

Visitors and residents will be able to explore PlayStation Home with their avatar character and, thanks to Diesel, avatars can look great from the start with Diesel offering the latest men’s and women’s designer avatar clothing, with items ranging from free of charge to €1.50. So for those visiting PlayStation Home, they can dress their avatars in the latest jeans and jacket prior to getting out and about.

On the home front, PlayStation®Home gives everyone their own apartment to spend time in and entertain friends - who will now be able relax on exclusive Ligne Roset furniture. At the virtual store, people will be able to choose from a selection of the most popular Ligne Roset designs, including the iconic Togo and Facett upholstery collections. It will be possible to personalise furniture by selecting from a wide selection of fabrics and leathers allowing a unique and individual look. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with Ligne Roset’s cutting edge designs created by some of Europe’s most talented designers.

As the very first consumer brand space, Red Bull has created the Red Bull Island where visitors to the Island can interact and take part in many of Red Bull’s unique events. Initially there will be the opportunity to get inside the cockpit of a Red Bull Air Race plane and compete against the PlayStation community. The real-world Red Bull Air Race World Championship has become a global phenomenon in just four years, attracting millions of spectators. Now those spectators can leave the stands, become a pilot and tackle the Red Bull Island course themselves. The Red Bull Island will continue to expand, adding new and exciting content in early 2009.

Taking full advantage of the PlayStation Home Theatre, SCEE has partnered with various content providers to enhance the cinematic experience. Offering a wide range of content, the PlayStation Home Theatre will provide lifestyle technology programming from Hexus TV, gaming content from Eurogamer and exclusive film content from Paramount Pictures. Starting with the release of the highly anticipated film, Watchmen, Paramount Pictures International will use PlayStation®Home to promote its latest films. Initially, PlayStation®Home residents will be able to view an exclusive video greeting from Watchmen Director Zack Snyder as well as the latest Watchmen trailer. A selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise e.g. T-Shirts with the smiley face logo, Doomsday clocks and character statues, will also be available in the New Year, ahead of an exclusive Q & A event where cast and filmmakers will meet selected press and competition winners fans within the Watchmen themed environment.

PlayStation Home is exclusive to PS3, free to download and easy to join. It’s the ultimate online community – a place where you can meet friends, try the latest games, hear new music, watch videos, relax in the apartment of your dreams and much, much more. With more and more spaces being created and partners like Diesel, Ligne Roset and Red Bull coming on board, the PlayStation Home experience is just getting started.

SCE will vigorously promote the expansion of the world of PS3 by introducing new services that will open up new possibilities and enjoyment in interactive entertainment.

*1 PlayStation Home will not be available in some regions.

*2 To be a “Clubhouse” owner, user will need to buy the entitlement to run the club.

*3 When the service is available, PlayStation Home icon will appear after booting/ re-booting the PS3 system. To enjoy PlayStation Home, users will need broadband network connection and PlayStation Network account in addition to the PS3 system.

*4 Some content and services are charged.

Well, it seems as if Midway is getting closer to the grave. This past weekend, the wall street journal reported, that Summer Redstone (the majority controller in Midway) sold off his majority stock for $100,000. Now you might be thinking that buying the majority of a company for that low, roughly $0.0012 per share, is a great deal. But by taking on the majority of stock, investor Mark Thomas also took on the $70 million in secured and unsecured debt associated with the company. With Midway possibly losing their listing on the NYSE soon, it appears that the company will be under sooner than later. Which is a shame as MK vs DC turned out to be a great property along with TNA Impact that did well in sales, it appeared that they could get back on their feet. Sadly I don’t see this happening and my guess is we will see a sale of the company/properties by the end of the year if not early 1st quarter of next year.

Well folks, it has finally begun. Great fighting games are finally being consistently produced by many studios. First we got Soul Calibur IV, Street Fighter II HD Remix (releases today on PS3 by the way), Street Fighter IV coming out early next year and in my opinion the biggest surprise as of late, Mortal Kombat vs DC. I have been reporting on this with high anticipation while having low expectation on what would actually come of this game and after a weekend of playing, I am very impressed with what Midway did with this new outing of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Earlier this year when the game was announced, I was highly skeptical as I felt the last two MK games, Deadly Alliance and Armageddon, didn’t have the feel of the classic MK arcade games that I was looking for. So as I began to see early trailers, screen shots, character roster lists and other updates, I slowly began warming up to the idea that this game could be entertaining. The fighting style in this installment returns to teh games roots by offering fantastic 2D fighting with the option to side step as needed. Pulling off special moves then going into combos is seamless and flows very well. The roster is decently sized, hopefully it will grow through DLC, and each fighter is different in that you don’t feel like you are using the same fighting styles for multiple characters. Along with that, both MK and DC characters play exactly how they should be represented with their fighting styles and special moves. All in all if you like fighting games, especially 2D fighters, you will not be disapointed with this game. And for those that don’t have friends, the story mode holds up with a decent story that actually makes sense on how to bring these two universes together.

Positives: Great fighting mechanics, great level designs with interactive environments, main characters from both universes represented, enjoyable story mode, online play and fatalities.

Negatives: To small of a roster, no run button, no fatalities for Shao Kahn or Darkseid and some classic MK button combinations for moves have been changed.

Mortal Kombat vs DC is now available for the Xbox 360 and the Playstaion 3.

Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about the financial trouble currently facing Chicago-based video game company Midway Games.

The article cites Midway’s continuing stock drop, an unforgiving economic climate, and mounting debt troubles for majority shareholder Summer Redstone, as signs of Midway’s impending doom.  A financial analyst from Wedbush Morgan is even quoted as saying, “How much value is left in essentially a few development studios, the ‘Mortal Kombat’ brand and a library of classic games?”.

Well, I’ll tell you asshole: A lot. Midway releases like Pacman, Mortal Kombat, and the Blitz series are the reason many people got in to video games, (myself included) and their probable closure represents a true Nerd tragedy, particularly for those who reside in Chicago. With the recent shutdown of EA Chicago, the city is sorely in need of developers, and although  Day 1 Studios still fights the good fight, the closure of Midway would represent the end of one  the most important video game companies of all time.

Direct Youtube Link

The really sad thing is that Midway is still releasing great games. Blitz: The League II is super fun, and the underlying commentary on the NFL and sports in general, as well as the gratuitous ultra-violence, makes it a truly unique must-play in a genre commonly known for being generic and overcrowded. The recently released Mortal Kombat Vs. DC is a masterpiece, and represents a wet dream for any self-respecting video game/comic book nerd. The concept alone is worth checking out, and the fact that the game is well-thought out and mechanically sound elevates the title from good idea to exceptionally great game.

Direct Youtube Link

As the holiday season approaches, and scratch is slim, every consumer decision counts. Games consistently represent one of the most popular gift choices this time of year, and it is more important then ever to think about where your dollars are going. Put Blitz: The League II and/or Mortal Kombat Vs. DC on your list not only because the games are good/fun/bloody, but because Midway needs and deserves our help.  So please, support your local video game developer and buy Midway.

First of all sorry to all my fans for not posting anything lately, but my computer got a virus somehow *cough* porn *cough*.  But I’m back now, so that is all that is important.  Now on with the news.

This past Monday saw a pretty weak Virtual Console lineup as the biggest thing was Mega Man 3 being released with two new Wii Ware titles.  Mega Man 3 is the first game in the series to introduce the slide and charge buster to Mega Man offensive repertoire

WiiWare™

Brain Challenge™ (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Just like your body, your brain needs to be exercised to stay in shape. Boost your brain and relieve stress through various minigames in a personal session to get a detailed evaluation. Challenge your friends’ brains in delirious party games to see who is the smartest. Test your brain’s abilities in Visual, Memory, Logic, Math and Focus minigames. Compare yourself with friends by challenging their brains in three multiplayer modes. Develop your resistance to stressful situations that could happen in real life. Use a customized Mii™ character to create personal sessions. Choose your favorite personal coach. Track your overall performance with detailed statistics and graphs. The special Kid Test and Senior Test modes will gather everyone around the game.

Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (Virtual Toys, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam is a frenetically active cooking game in which you must serve food to your customers as quickly as possible. This could be a simple task, but the customers aren’t very patient, and you’ll find a multitude of annoying insects that make the noble mission of satisfying your small gourmets’ stomachs much more difficult. In the game’s Career Mode, your goal is to become the best chef in the city. To do so, you have to prove your worth by cooking in four fantastic restaurants: the Hot Dog, Hamburger, Pizza and Mexican Restaurant. Enjoy playing Yummy Yummy with your family, serving delicious food to the most surprising characters: vampires, ninjas, extraterrestrials and mafia thugs. Put on your chef’s hat, sharpen your knives and turn up the heat.

Virtual Console™

Mega Man™ 3 (NES™, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): In the year 200X, the notorious Dr. Wily, now reformed and working for the forces of good, works hand-in-hand with Dr. Light to build a new type of peacekeeping robot. When a new set of eight Robot Masters escapes the lab to wreak havoc on the world at large, only Mega Man can save the day. This time, Mega Man must rely on his new slide move and canine companion Rush to conquer the stages and vanquish evil. A new character, Proto Man, adds to the mystery and appeal of this seminal title in the famous action-game series.

Direct Youtube Link

Also big news with the ESRB.  The ESRB has updated their website to include more in detail descriptions of games so that parents can understand what they are buying for their kids this Festivus season.  I like how more info is getting to parents this way, but I don’t think most parents will go to the website and get this info.  Most will probably still look to rely on what is on the box, but this is at least a step in the rigt direction.  Below is an example of the new description for Call of Duty World at War, in the past the description would not go into this much detail about what can be seen and heard during gameplay.

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Allied soldiers in both the European and Pacific Fronts during World War II. Combat can be intense with extensive use of camera effects (e.g., slow-motion, blurring, and screen shakes) and realistic sound effects to highlight the tense and frenetic nature of each battle. Fighting is fast-paced with players using a large array of military weapons (guns, grenades, and flamethrowers). Collateral damage includes sprays of red blood when enemies are shot; maimed appendages from explosions; and flailing and screaming when enemies are set on fire. Cutscenes and historical footage can contain graphic depictions of prisoner/POW executions. Strong profanity can be heard during gameplay (e.g., “f*ck” and “sh*t”).

Finally, we have figured out a new way to post videos so I will look to have a big post about the release of Midways Mortal Kombat vs DC game that is coming out soon. Hopefully this title will take off as with current reports, Midway is really needing a hit on their hands to avoid more layoffs and possible sale of the company.

Max has to admit it. He’s super down with new Midway release, “Blitz: The League II“. Sure, a free copy didn’t hurt, but overall the game is super fun in a totally despicable way. It’s more like Mutant League Football than Madden, and it’s worth a play just to see how the game takes stabs at the NFL, including steroid-use mini games, encouraged sexual misconduct, and although I generally despise that fat idiot Frank Caliendo, the fake, sarcastic Madden coverage is inspired. I’ve always been a fan of the Blitz, Hitz, and Slugfest series, and without the constraints (budget, content, and otherwise) of licensing limitations, Midway has been allowed to take these games in a new direction, elevating them from quirky sports titles to satirical social commentary. With the closure of EA Chicago’s office and the rumors of financial trouble brewing at Midway, it is now more important than ever to support your local video game developer, and Blitz: The League II is a perfect way to do it. Get it here.

I was lucky enough to have a friend who worked on Guitar Hero: World Tour. Below is the fantastic interview I was able to do with my buddy Zach Parr.

Mike: So first of all thanks for doing the interview and giving us some insight on your work
Zach: No problem, I really like what you guys are doing with your site so I was happy to do my part.

M: Alright, let’s get into this. How did you get hired at Activision/Neversoft? What is your school background?
Z: I submitted a resume to Activision which got passed down the Neversoft. The two major qualifications which got me the job were a masters in computer science as well as a music background. Since it is the case that Neversoft is currently in the business of “rhythm games” my qualifications fit the profile of the type of person they were looking for.

M: What is your official title/ what do you do at work?
Z: My title is UI Programmer. I primarily work on game screens involving stats, menus, and HUD (heads up display) elements

M: What was it like having Guitar Hero 4 being your first project to work on and where you a fan of the series beforehand?
Z: Being assigned to GH: World Tour as my first industry job was truly amazing. It is a triple A title and most people don’t get the pleasure of working on such a popular game when they first enter the industry. I was a fan of the series before hand but only in the “party” since, I hadn’t really gotten into the game until shortly before i had my interview while doing research on the company’s current titles. I quickly became an addict. Guitar Hero aside I’ve always been a huge fan of the Tony Hawk series.

M: Experiences (best and worst) working on the project? At what phase did you come in on the production of the game?
Z: I started at Neversoft midway through development of GH:WT, this was quite daunting at first. I would in fact chalk this up to the worst experience so far. The learning curve is very steep when jumping into such a massive code base. At the beginning I wasn’t sure what i had gotten myself into, i was constantly breaking the game and having to reboot and reload into the portion i was working on just to have it crash again! These games are very fragile while in development and this can be quite frustrating. The best experiences for me come during the development of a new idea. Game elements are often reiterated over and over until all the producers/designers/directors are happy with that particular element. The best experience is when I put my own twist on some element I am working on which gets a consensual smile of approval among the leads.

M: Being a drummer, what are you thoughts on the drum set along with the new features on the guitar?
Z: The drum experience in the game is the most realistic out of all the instruments (excluding vocals) this is both a good and bad thing. In my opinion its very cool how realistic the experience is, but I’ve spent years behind an actual drum set developing the necessary coordination to play the instrument. So playing drums in the game feels very natural to me. On the other hand it is very difficult for me to imagine what it must be like playing the game without such a background. The general consensus is that it is very difficult; I guess you’ll have to start on easy folks. In my opinion difficult is good, people have already gotten 100% on through the fire and flames from GHIII, we have to cater to all skill levels and the challenge is part of what makes this game so addictive, the drums add a whole new dimension to the “challenge factor”.
At first I was not a particular fan of the new slide guitars, I really like the look and feel of the les paul, though after using the new slide guitar it wasn’t long before i preferred the smoother strum bar as well as the beefier size. (I still like the look of the les paul better though, I’m not a big fan of the sunburst)

M: What is your favorite thing about your job?
Z: There is a natural creative energy that emanates from the studio, this is created by the folks who work there. My favorite part of the job is how amazingly well the people interact, everybody has their own ideas and visions of what the finished product will be like. These ideas all differ in their own ways. Everybody must support the team and make decisions as a team. I am amazed on a daily basis at how well a team of over 100 people can fight it out and always come to a compromise leaving everybody in agreement

M: What are your thoughts on Rock Band and the other music games being released?
Z: Harmonix is a great company and have been making rhythm games for a few years longer than us. (you know they did develop the software for GH1 and GH2). I don’t really like the fact that you have to replay songs through the career progression of the game in order to get everything unlocked, but oh well, ill survive. You won’t catch me talking smack on them but there is a general level of competition between the two studios. I think this is quite healthy and keeps massive pressure on pushing the genera forward. We often compare what we are doing to what they are doing. We feed off their ideas as well as I’m sure they feed off of ours.

M: Now for some rapid fire questions, lets see what you got.

M: Favorite Smash Bros character?
Z: Fox on melee, Mario on brawl (lame I know)
M: Favorite Song in GH4?
Z: Rebel Yell
M: System preference and why.
Z: Xbox 360, its got the most games and largest online community. And you can have multiple people signed in online at the same time, Sony really screwed up not allowing that on ps3, I heard a rumor that they are changing that with the new sdk : )
M: What games are you playing right now?
Z: Metal Gear Solid 4, Dead Space, Rockband 2, COD 5 beta, Warcraft III (ill never give that one up), god of war on PSP (what ever the name of that one is) *Editor Note: it is called Chains of Olympus* and Spore.

M: What games are you looking forward to?
Z: Little big planet, StarCraft II and Diablo III.

M: What games should people check out that they have probably missed?
Z: Braid and Castle Crashers both xbox live arcade titles, Odin Sphere (ps2), Warcraft III (PC)

M: And finally, what are you working on next?
Z: Sorry, can’t tell ya.

Well there you have it kids, I hoped you enjoyed yourself. And remember Guitar Hero: World Tour comes out this Sunday (10/26) for PS3, Wii and the Xbox 360.

The team over at Chicago-based video game company Midway Games just sent Nerd City a copy of Blitz: The League II, and Max can’t wait to play it. Check out this super awesome/totally gross trailer.

Direct Youtube Link