Toys for Kids & Adults

Boycotting 'Battlefield: Bad Company'

It seems that there are few gamers who are hopping mad over EA's downloadable content strategy forBattlefield: Bad Company. You see, the standard game is $60, no shocker there. The "Gold Edition" is $70 and includes five weapons not available in the standard edition.

Those with the standard edition can purchase those weapons as downloadable content. EA claims that the weapons don't throw off the balance of power in multiplayer matches, which begs the question, why include them, and more importantly, why sell them?

Because of this rotten strategy, there are many gamers who are planning to boycott the game altogether. I say let's march on Washington! Or, the LA offices of EA! Yeah!

For more on this visit:The Street

New 'GTAIV' TV spot
Don't get me wrong here, because I am as excited as any other gamer for the release ofGTA IV(after all, I'm not made of wood). But, is anyone else getting a little sick of seeing trailers that feature no real gameplay? Meh. Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, here's the latest and greatest, via Gamestop.

Pachter: EA could delay 'GTA IV'
It's no secret that we're not huge fans of Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter. While we have nothing against the guy personally, his record for making accurate predictions regarding the direction of the video game industry has been less than impressive. Despite this, he seems to be the go to guy when it comes to the investment realm of video game analysis, which is why we go a little nuts when we hear him say things that don't seem thought out.

Today's Pachter crime comes via an interview onGameTrailer's Bonus Room, where he states that,if EA acquires Take-Two, EA will "have an economic incentive to delay [Grand Theft Auto IV]".

The suggestion is that EA would hold the title until the 4th quarter, when the video game industry makes most of its money. These are the kinds of Pachter-esque predictions that drive us nuts, as they fail to take into account certain unique variables.

If this were any other highly anticipated game, Pachter would have a case. But it's not. This isGrand Theft Auto 4. With its April 29th release date, it's expected to bring in over $360 million in retail sales in the first week. If it is successful, it will beat outHalo 3, which, with $300 million in sales, holds the record for the highest grossing opening day in entertainment history.

Of course, the game's sales won't stop there. This will, most certainly, be the summer ofGTA IV(and R.E.M., but that has nothing to do with anything). People will be playing it left and right. My dad, who buys, perhaps, one game every two years, will be playing it. Then, come the holidays, all of those people who haven't bought it, will buy it.

GTA games, particularly those that are supposed to be absolutely ground-breaking (and online), don't die for years (btw, our 2004GTA: Vice CityGame Guideremains one of our most popular). In other words, when it comes to the release ofGTAtitles, it's not a matter of how much money the company is going to make, it's a matter of when that company is going to begin taking in millions upon millions of dollars. EA likes money just as much as the next company, and they're not going to delay making money in the second quarter, as they'd still be racking it up in the 4th.

As a final note, we should remember that in June of last year, Pachter predicted a delay ofGTA IV's original release date of October 16th, 2007. While Take-Two did delay the release, it was due to delays in development. Pachter predicted delays would be due toa desire to avoid competition with other 4th quarter titles. Rather contradictory to his current path of prediction, is it not?

'GTA4' map leaked?

With less than a month to the launch of what's sure to be this year's biggest game, the insert map forGrand Theft Auto 4seems tohave been leaked. While it's still getting the "rumor" treatment, for those of us living in Liberty City, well, it looks right to us.

You'll see that Lunabean HQ is located in a lovely part of town, on the east side, not far from the beach and in close proximity to Chuck E Cheese! However, the only dog park in the area, Tommy Vercetti Memorial Park, is all the way across town. Alas, don't feel bad. When you can drive 90 miles per hour and pedestrian deaths don't matter, it only takes about 5 minutes to get there.

GTA4is released on April 29th and we'll start a walkthrough soon thereafter.

For more info on the leaked maps,head here.