Talking as part of a rare in-depth Gamasutra interview, FASA, 42 Entertainment, and Smith & Tinker founder Jordan Weisman (Shadowrun, Battletech) has been discussing the concept of 'planned parenthood' for game franchises in terms of developing a game universe - suggesting Tomb Raider as a franchise which had to fill back in story as the series grew. Weisman has a storied history in tabletop, ARG, and video games dating back to 1980, which includes a ...

In its quarterly online subscriptions tracking report for October 2007 to March 2008, sales tracking organization The NPD Group has gathered data showing that online subscriptions, including MMO, casual, and console titles, represent over $1 billion annually to the U.S. gaming industry. The NPD Group calculated these results by taking the averages for Q4 2007 and Q1 2008, respectively $94.3 million and $80.1 million, and multiplying the average of those two by 12 to get ...

After months of warnings, officials from Atari, Inc. have revealed that the company has received a letter from the Nasdaq stock market stating that the company will be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market and trading in its shares suspended. Officials from Atari will request a review of the decision from the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council, but this will not delay the suspension of trading due to start today. The company expects that ...

British publisher and developer Codemasters has announced that the company has secured the exclusive video game rights to Formula 1 racing, with its first title, based on the 2009 season, due for release next year on all console and PC formats. The announcement has come as a surprise, after widely reported rumors that Electronic Arts had secured the license, or at least that of British driver Lewis Hamilton, from its previous holder, Sony. However, Codemasters ...

For the third week in a row, the two top selling titles in Japan have remained the same, as Mario Kart Wii and Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G on PSP continue to sell in large quantities during the Golden Week series of national holidays. One of the most important dates on the Japanese retail calendar sales have seen an increase across the board, although with few prominent new releases, the effect has been more ...

Publisher 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, has announced an agreement with Universal Pictures to develop a film based on its first-person shooter BioShock, currently available for Xbox 360 and PC. Neither company has offered a likely date for the movie's release or details on the agreement's terms. Gore Verbinski, director of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, is slated to direct and produce the film. John Logan, Academy Award-nominated writer of Gladiator, The ...

Amsterdam-based publisher Playlogic Entertainment, Inc. has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2008, reporting a net revenue increase of $4 million, a 12% rise from the $3.5 million reported in the same period the previous year. Previously, the company reported its first full year profit, doubling its sales from the previous year to $10.1 million in the fiscal 2007 year. Playlogic attributed the rise in first quarter sales to its first-party relationship ...

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog editor Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days, as well as any notable features on his sister 'state of indie' weblog.] This week on 'Best Of Indie Games', we take a look at some of the top titles released earlier this week - two browser games, a competition entry, and a little something from the thriving doujin ...

In an analyst conference call held following Activision's announcement of strong fiscal year and quarter financial results, company executives spoke at length about the company's successes and plans for its key franchises - but declined to comment significantly on the upcoming Vivendi merger until the deal is complete. Company chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick (pictured) took the reins for the early part of the call, pointing to Activision's financial successes released earlier. He noted that ...

The May 2008 issue of Game Developer magazine, the sister print publication to Gamasutra.com, and the leading U.S. trade publication for the video game industry, has shipped to subscribers and is available from the Game Developer Digital service in both subscription and single-issue formats, as well as a single physical issue. The cover feature for the issue is a postmortem of Harmonix's signature new music game franchise Rock Band, penned by lead designer Rob Kay ...