OuFtb
04-14-2004, 01:11 PM
America's Army
Completing its trio of recent big announcements, Ubisoft sent out word today that America's Army, the first-person shooter and soldiering simulation which has made a splash among PC gamers, will receive a proper worldwide console release. Ubisoft will bring America's Army to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in summer of 2005.
America's Army, which has been distributed as a free PC download since 2002, was developed under direction of the U.S. Army to provide a realistic simulation of the training, tactics, and challenges of a soldier.
"America's Army is an excellent vehicle through which young adults can discover how Soldiers are developed and employed in the defense of freedom," said Colonel Casey Wardynski, originator and Director of the America's Army game project. "Ubisoft has extensive experience in producing best-selling military games and we're looking forward to getting their developers in the field with our Soldiers."
Given Ubisoft's illustrious history with military-realism titles, the company is a natural choice for developing and publishing the console version of America's Army. We don't have any specifics on how the console version will differ at this point, nor any screens, but we should see more details emerge as we get closer to the game's release.
Viacom/Midway
Earlier today we reported that Midway Games is offering 11,350,000 shares of common stock in order to raise a good amount of cash.
Now, in an interesting development, Reuters reports that Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone may be looking to increase his stake in the company, or purchase it outright. Redstone currently owns 48.35 percent of Midway individually and through his holding company National Amusements. The Reuters article mentions that in the holdings statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Sumner indicates he may seek a seat on Midway's board.
Though Midway has not posted a profit in four years, analysts expect the company to be profitable by the June quarter of this year.
Given Sumner's position at Viacom, would his potential purchase of Midway bring the games publisher under the influence of the entertainment giant? As this looks like a personal purchase, not an action by Viacom, it's not likely an official relationship between the companies would result. But either way, these are interesting times indeed for Midway, and may ultimately prove to be the shot in the arm the company needs to thrive.
America's Army- http://xbox.ign.com/articles/506/506450p1.html
Viacom/Midway- http://xbox.ign.com/articles/506/506336p1.html
Completing its trio of recent big announcements, Ubisoft sent out word today that America's Army, the first-person shooter and soldiering simulation which has made a splash among PC gamers, will receive a proper worldwide console release. Ubisoft will bring America's Army to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in summer of 2005.
America's Army, which has been distributed as a free PC download since 2002, was developed under direction of the U.S. Army to provide a realistic simulation of the training, tactics, and challenges of a soldier.
"America's Army is an excellent vehicle through which young adults can discover how Soldiers are developed and employed in the defense of freedom," said Colonel Casey Wardynski, originator and Director of the America's Army game project. "Ubisoft has extensive experience in producing best-selling military games and we're looking forward to getting their developers in the field with our Soldiers."
Given Ubisoft's illustrious history with military-realism titles, the company is a natural choice for developing and publishing the console version of America's Army. We don't have any specifics on how the console version will differ at this point, nor any screens, but we should see more details emerge as we get closer to the game's release.
Viacom/Midway
Earlier today we reported that Midway Games is offering 11,350,000 shares of common stock in order to raise a good amount of cash.
Now, in an interesting development, Reuters reports that Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone may be looking to increase his stake in the company, or purchase it outright. Redstone currently owns 48.35 percent of Midway individually and through his holding company National Amusements. The Reuters article mentions that in the holdings statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Sumner indicates he may seek a seat on Midway's board.
Though Midway has not posted a profit in four years, analysts expect the company to be profitable by the June quarter of this year.
Given Sumner's position at Viacom, would his potential purchase of Midway bring the games publisher under the influence of the entertainment giant? As this looks like a personal purchase, not an action by Viacom, it's not likely an official relationship between the companies would result. But either way, these are interesting times indeed for Midway, and may ultimately prove to be the shot in the arm the company needs to thrive.
America's Army- http://xbox.ign.com/articles/506/506450p1.html
Viacom/Midway- http://xbox.ign.com/articles/506/506336p1.html