To: Ash
From: Geoff Keighley
Subject: My Head Is Still Spinning

Tonight I'm headed out to a Hollywood club called Opera for the official Assassin's Creed launch party. Hosted by Kristen Bell (who appears in the game), these Hollywood parties are always interesting social experiments. Who shows up just to be seen, who shows up to drink, and who shows up to actually play the game? A number of celebrities are on the "tip sheet" as its called, including what looks like the full cast of Heroes. Keep in mind, however, that the appearance to listed names ratio on tip sheets is often pretty low. I do know producer Jade Raymond will be there! And that's good enough for me.

Otherwise, this was quite the day for video game news. Crecente must be bummed to have missed it! It started with news that NPD was cutting back on releasing hardware numbers; then EA closed EA Chicago; and finally we found out that God of War II director Cory Barlog is leaving Sony. And as I cryptically alluded to last night, Harmonix launched its new game Phase for iPods. I'll have more in the morning on Phase and what it means for the future of music games.

What you missed today
EA Closing EA Chicago Studio
NCSoft Buys City of Heroes, creates new studio
Cory Barlog Leaving SCEA
Reggie Talks to Analysts in New York
The Disappearing NPD Numbers

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