BizSpots: Ozzy, Ubisoft, Crytek, Leipzig, Marvel, 42

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted May 22, 2007 5:37 pm PT

Osbourne tackles Madden, Pachter pumps up French publisher, German studio expands, comic house loses game chief, ilovebees-maker builds Dark Knight buzz.

The Prince of Darkness joins forces with EA.

Ozzy sinks teeth into Madden soundtrack
Electronic Arts' Tiburon studio today revealed the first track from the soundtrack of Madden NFL 08. In part of a deal cut with Epic Records, "I Don't Wanna Stop" by Ozzy Osbourne will appear in the footballer. The track is from Osbourne's album Black Rain, which went on sale today. In August, EA will ship Madden NFL 08 for the PC, Nintendo DS, Wii, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable.

Analyst bullish on Ubisoft
This week, widely respected Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter raised his rating of Ubisoft from a "buy" to a "strong buy." In a note subtitled "We Think the Ubisoft Story is Misunderstood," the analyst said that "Ubisoft management was conservative with its financial year 2008 guidance," which predicted revenue of "at least" 800 million euros (around $1.076 billion) and earnings of 0.91 euros ($1.21) per share. Pachter believes that next Tuesday, the company could report revenues upward of 850 million euros ($1.143 billion) with earnings per share above 1.50 euros ($2.01).

Crytek opens Budapest studio
Two weeks after it expanded its Kiev subsidiary into a full-fledged studio, German developer Crytek has opened another development branch in Eastern Europe. Located in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, the new studio will help the Crysis-maker "leverage its CryEngine 2 technology and expand the number of gaming genres for which it is developing new products." No specific titles or platforms were mentioned.

Leipzig Game Conference reports record registration levels
With Britain's once-mighty gaming events a thing of the past, the Leipzig, Germany-based Games Convention has become Europe's top industry expo. More evidence of its prominence came this week, when GC organizers announced that they were selling floor space at the 30,000 square meter Leipziger Messe convention center at a 40 percent faster rate than last year. So far, exhibitors from 15 countries--including Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Konami, Eidos, Sega, Vivendi, and Disney--have signed to exhibit at the event, which runs from August 23-28.

Report: Marvel game chief departs
Firingsquad.com has learned and GameSpot has confirmed that Ames Kirshen, former chief of Marvel Entertainment's games division, has left the company. Kirshen joined Marvel in 2004 after working at its archrival DC Comics and Warner Bros., holder of the Batman film license. During his tenure, Marvel sued Cryptic Studios over copyright infringement in City of Heroes--and then struck a deal with the studio to develop an Xbox 360 and PC Marvel superhero massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Rough Knight, Heath?

ilovebees-maker builds Dark Knight buzz
Three years after the notorious Halo 2 alternate reality game promo, the people behind ilovebees are being tapped to promote one of Hollywood's biggest movie franchises. This week, 4orty2wo Entertainment, the marketing company which was also behind the hex168 Xbox 360 promotion, briefly teased a photo from The Dark Knight on IBelieveinHarveyDentToo.com. The site briefly hosted a minigame which unlocked the first shot of Heath Ledger as the Joker (pictured) from the forthcoming Batman Begins sequel. Now it has a much less cryptic puzzle that indicates the first trailer for the film will be unveiled in December.

50 Comments

  • keesler23

    Posted Jun 17, 2007 9:06 pm PT

    with ozzys new song i dont wanna stop just puts the game over the edge thats one of the greatest songs i heard in ahwile

  • 360_fanatic

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 9:01 am PT

    I agree with apponequetLaker!! ( But your name a little wierd too ) ............. ( No offence about the name thing )

  • apponequetLaker

    Posted May 28, 2007 11:27 am PT

    ummmm..... wow just a little weird

  • conkertheduke88

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:33 pm PT

    that face is disturbing

  • red-orc

    Posted May 24, 2007 9:04 am PT

    Crytek opens Budapest studio
    Two weeks after it expanded its Kiev subsidiary into a full-fledged studio, German developer Crytek has opened another development branch in Eastern Europe. Located in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, the new studio will help the Crysis-maker "leverage its CryEngine 2 technology and expand the number of gaming genres for which it is developing new products." No specific titles or platforms were mentioned. --- that's the news about Crysis

  • XanderKage

    Posted May 24, 2007 7:59 am PT

    What does any of this has got anything to do with Far Cry?

  • red-orc

    Posted May 24, 2007 1:11 am PT

    Great mask, with a smile carved into his cheeks. Reminds me a little on voodoo though ...

  • DoctorFu

    Posted May 23, 2007 7:15 pm PT

    That first picture totally freaked me out.

  • Hicks_1

    Posted May 23, 2007 8:59 am PT

    I think heath is underratted but nicholson was good the rest of the movie was bad

  • Glordit

    Posted May 23, 2007 8:32 am PT

    at least Crysis will be out before HF2 Ep2!

  • dougo1807

    Posted May 23, 2007 8:14 am PT

    Jack Nicholson is the man!

  • darkdaej

    Posted May 23, 2007 6:28 am PT

    meh, heath ledger has nothing on Jack Nicholson's joker. Now THAT was great acting

  • Triple_H90

    Posted May 23, 2007 6:27 am PT

    Madden NFL 08 for the original Xbox? I thought it died. Well, I think they will cancel it.

  • Lonelynight

    Posted May 23, 2007 6:05 am PT

    Crytek rules!!!!!!!!!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted May 23, 2007 5:49 am PT

    crytek!!!!!

  • Jimbo9981

    Posted May 23, 2007 5:46 am PT

    Devallyk, look around on the internet. There are a couple of spots where it describes the origin of the Joker's look. It helps to clarify things.

  • red_x2004

    Posted May 23, 2007 4:22 am PT

    ??

  • fl4rty

    Posted May 23, 2007 3:41 am PT

    T_F_U:

    how do you know they havent got several publishers asking them to develop games already?

  • Devallyk

    Posted May 23, 2007 3:41 am PT

    Wow, that Joker just doesn't look right.

    I mean, play with the interpretation of the character sure, but he looks more like he has the bubonic plague than a big smile...

  • svitas

    Posted May 23, 2007 3:34 am PT

    CRYTEK RULLS

Madden NFL 08 Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Downloads | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices: $19.99 – 44.99

GameStop $19.99 SHOP ›
eBay $44.99 SHOP ›
advertisement
Click Here
advertisement
Click Here
Madden NFL 08 Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Madden NFL 08

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement