Platforms like Facebook and the iPhone have made video games more accessible than ever before, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 promise to keep offering the biggest and best ‘AAA’ games money can buy. But what happens when these two clashing sides of the industry continue to pull at the same tug-of-war? Well, there were two headlines in the news this week that might seem unrelated, but they're the perfect comparative example to what's happening in the world of games...
CVG: This Is Vegas canned, $50m up in smoke.
The website for the game is as blank as possible, but it has a two-word message that suggests the game is coming back from the brink: Coming Soon.
Publisher stakes claim to Gauntlet DS, This is Vegas, and Criminal Web addresses, indicating previously abandoned projects may be revived. Last year Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment purchased Midway for $49 million, instantly establishing itself in the fighting game genre with the Mortal Kombat series. Along with the fighting franchise, WBIE also picked up Midway's extensive back catalog of arcade and console games, as well as a few more recent titles that never saw the light of day.
Gamervision reports: In what appears to be an ongoing trend this year, GameStop has removed This is Vegas from their computers. The Midway title was supposed to be released last year, but was pushed back around the same time The Wheelman was. Since then, The Wheelman was released, and until this point, the release of This is Vegas was up in the air. Amazon still lists the title for a November 30th release, but with no screenshots, trailers, previews, or news in the past few months, GameStop is likely acting on more than a hunch.When asked for a comment, WB PR was quick to reply.
Rumors about This is Vegas' demise started to boil over this past weekend when it was noticed the game's SKU had suspiciously been removed from Gamestop's database. Add to the fact that little news about the title has come out since January, and that that its original publisher, Midway Games, was purchased by Warner Bros. isn't helping things. So has the game been canned? IGN contacted Warner Bros. to clear some of this up, and the publisher issued them the following statement, simply saying: This is Vegas is currently in production.
The Examiner writes: It would appear there is yet another casualty of the downfall of publisher Midway. This Is Vegas, an open-world game based around one mans efforts to keep Vegas from becoming a family-friendly tourist trap, appears to have been canceled by new owners Warner Bros. Interactive.
That Gaming Site writes: Not much is known about Midway's upcoming open world title This is Vegas; this may change shortly however according to Midway's community manager.
Midway, in conjunction with the Games Convention 2008, today released never-before-seen screenshots, as well as a brand new trailer for THIS IS VEGAS.
Eurogamer writes: Midway has decided GTA rival This is Vegas is better off in 2009, according to its latest financial statement. The PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 game had been expected this autumn, but no reason was given for the delay. Perhaps the move was made to unclog what interim Midway boss Matt Booty called possibly our strongest holiday line-up in recent years in the money report.
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