Congratulations, you crazy kids.

8-bit Wedding Invitation [Geekstir, via Gizmodo]

Designed and coded by Kevin Ryan and produced by Jeff Tunnell, The Incredible Machine took PC gaming by storm in the early 90's, winning over casual and hardcore gamers alike with its challenging, Rube Goldberg-esque physics puzzles. The convoluted path the franchise took to get back into Tunnell's hands is right in line with the convoluted nature of The incredible Machine's puzzles. The rights were lost in limbo after parent company Sierra scrapped publisher Dynamix in 2001, with Sierra then being scrapped by Vivendi Universal three years later. Now the property is squarely in the hands of PushButton Labs, a company co-founded by the game's producer, Jeff Tunnell, who couldn't be happier.

"TIM was a genre defining franchise and I could not be happier to have the property available to PushButton Labs. I'm very excited to see what we can do with it moving forward."

While we imagine what sort of greatness will come of the franchise in the future, we can explore its past today. PushButton Labs has packaged up the bulk of the series into one giant, Windows Vista and XP compatible package, available for $9.99 today through CD Projekt's GoG.com.

I will be staying far, far away from this re-release, as I fear for my free time.

On April 6th of this year, Valve was awarded a $2,391,932 judgment against Activision as the result of a 2002 lawsuit against Sierra Online. The original lawsuit, which we reported on way back in 2004, involved Sierra distributing Valve software at cyber cafes, which led to Sierra preventing Valve from letting players unlock Half-Life 2 early. Speaking for gamers as a whole, Sierra totally deserved to lose if only for that fact. Having merged with Sierra parent Vivendi in 2008, Activision inherited the case and therefore the judgment.

They just don't want to pay the whole thing.

Citing previous overpayments of $424,136, Activision issued a check for $1,967,796, which is the judgment minus the supposed overpayments. Valve, understandably unhappy about this, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in order to secure the full amount.

According to the lawsuit, Valve claims that Activision informed them that they would not pay the full amount, and would counter-sue if Valve took them back to court. Now Valve has done just that.

Valve is seeking the full amount of the original judgment, as well as a court declaration stating that Activision cannot pursue additional compensation based on agreements that have long since been terminated.

Now we grab some popcorn, kick back, and wait for Activision to counter-sue. Good times.

It's Ugly: Valve Sues Activision, Activision Threatens to Sue Valve [Game Politics]

If you head over to Sarien, you can take part in a little project that's part-game, part-museum piece, with old Sierra adventure games running in Flash on your browser. The graphics are the same, and if you want, you can use text commands, but a right-click menu system has also been introduced to speed things up a bit.

That's the game part. The museum part comes in a gallery of assets from the old games, with a wide range of things like background art available for browsing.

Interestingly, it also supports...well, multiplayer, with the internet-based nature of the games allowing users to see other gamers attempting the same puzzles as you are in real-time.

Currently three games are supported - Leisure Suit Larry 1, Police Quest 1 and Space Quest 1 - with more promised.

Sarien [via GSW]

50 Cent: Blood On The Sand [OFLC via NeoGAF]

On November 1st, Sierra will be closing 21 of its game servers, cutting off supports to games such as AvP2, Homeworld and Vampire.

None of the games affected are hugely popular, but doubtless someone out there will be a bit put out by this. Comments, anyone?

Full list after the jump.

1. Alien vs Predator 2
2. Arcanum
3. Caesar IV
4. Dark Reign 2
5. Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom
6. Empire Earth
7. Empire Earth 2
8. Empire Earth: Age of Conquest
9. Ground Control
10. Ground Control 2
11. Homeworld
12. Homeworld: Cataclysm
13. Nolf 2
14. Red Baron
15. Sanity
16. Star Trek: Armada
17. SWAT3: EE
18. SWAT3: GOTY
19. The Incredible Machine
20. Tribes 2
21. Vampire

Sierra Axe 21 Game Servers [Play.tm]

Yeah, it's dead. Caught in the unflinching cogs of big video game business, mergers, and close downs, we hear. Victim of a flooded genre and a potential publisher with one too many shooters on its hands.

But don't cry for Fifty. We hear the G-Unit-sporting rapper got his appearance cash, while Swordfish, the team behind the budding game, is likely to get sold off.

You gotta love this business.

Update, We Got it Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: Turns out that our internal sources were slightly confused and despite our best efforts we got it wrong. While I'm still waiting for some sort of official word from the companies involved, this is what we've heard: While 50-Cent: Blood on the Sand was indeed jettisoned by Activision, the project isn't dead. In fact we're told that it is approaching gold and that a deal, perhaps with THQ as publisher, is in the wings.

Update 2: Activision has responded:

"We have a policy of not commenting on rumors.

I can tell you that we announced back in July that we are retaining only those franchises that are a strong fit with our long-term strategy - - Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age, Spyro, Protoype and an unannounced new IP. We will not publish other titles that previously were part of the Vivendi Games portfolio and are currently reviewing our options regarding these titles."

With little time left to get new lanyards together, the PAX folks just ran with it, thus creating the sad little Ghostbusters promotional items. There's a bright side at least. As Variety's Ben Fritz points out, whoever winds up publishing the game just got a boatload of free advertising courtesy of Sierra.

The deal with those Ghostbusters lanyards at PAX [Variety]

Quest For Glory II [AGD, via IndieGames]

However, the extreme peculiarity of these discoveries has not diminished my interest in exploring games’ resource files in the least. Seeing the graphics, sounds, and codes neatly grouped in separate sections and finding out how they intermingle to bring the game to life may not be quite as entertaining as playing the game itself, but for those few who have the patience and a lot of free time, it is an interesting experience.

There is always the possibility of discovering an unused background, animation or sound file, or even just an interesting little comment made by a programmer in a script. As small and uncommon as these discoveries that I have made may be, they add a new dimension to the experience of enjoying these adventure games. In a way, they can be compared to the deleted scenes or audio commentary on a DVD release of a movie, and they give the interested gamer some true insights into the games’ design. Since I have only looked at a small portion of the files in just a few adventure games, who knows how many other hidden treasures have yet to be uncovered?

It's a neat, nostalgic (if sort of odd) look at some of those classic adventure games.

Resource Quest: hidden treasures in Sierra’s adventure games [Adventure Classic Gaming via GameSetWatch]

Sadly, when I first found this the other week I decided not to take a picture of the On-Line Systems anniversary party page. It featured people from the early eighties (a theme of this blog if you haven't noticed) enjoying what looked like a California themed ho-down, and men who look like Ewoks wearing aviator sunglasses (though Ewoks didn't yet exist, so I guess they are proto-Ewoks). I'm upset that I didn't take a picture of it, because I think it allows you to see (as these other pages do) the small and familial nature of a company that would balloon into one of PC gaming's most prominent companies.

A post on 'Sid Meier's First(?) Game and an Early Look at MicroProse', about a game no one — including Meier — seems to remember, is also worth a look.

The Beginnings of Sierra Part 1 [How They Got Game]

Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: Sierra's sad swan song [Variety]

I really don't know what Sierra even is these days...I suppose I should be disappointed anytime I hear that Sierra is being shut down, but it really doesn't bother me. The company was horribly mismanaged for a long time, and it depresses me more every time I hear about a dumb decision being made than it does when I hear that someone did the right thing, even when it includes killing off a brand or reducing staff size.

Oh Sierra. Don't worry. It'll all be over soon. And when it is, we'll remember you for Quest for Glory, not Magna Cum Laude.

Why Sierra Must Die [Edge]

Just two days after word hit that Activision was taking inventory of future Sierra titles, including Ghostbusters The Video Game and Brutal Legend, and trying to decide which to publish and which to mothball, I received this in the mail.

That's right, a preview copy of Ghostbusters The Video Game. The letter, written by the Evil PR Ninja Monkey (that's actually his title) at Activision Blizzard says that the hands-on preview code is not embargoed and that I can write about it as soon as I'd like to.

According to the included fact sheet the game has a Fall 2008 release date, but of course since the sheet isn't dated I have no way of knowing how accurate it is.

Sounds like someone is trying to reassure the gaming public. Now about that Brutal Legend code?

"Our colleagues at Vivendi Games did a tremendous job of capturing the spirit and allure of Robert Ludlum's writing with The Bourne Conspiracy and the gaming community's strong response is clear indication that future Ludlum games will deliver both popularity and profitability for years to come," commented Jeffrey Weiner, CEO of Ludlum Entertainment.

Weiner went on to say that the company looked forward to working with other partners in the future.

Ludlum estate reacquires Bourne game rights from Vivendi [GamesIndustry.biz]

What's missing from that list? Loads of Sierra titles. Ghostbusters: The Video Game and Brütal Legend to name two. WET and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena to name two more. Want another? 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

Yes, "Uh oh" might be the words you're looking for.

"We have conducted a thorough review of Vivendi Games' brand portfolio and are retaining those franchises and titles that are a strong fit with our long-term product strategy," Mike Griffith, CEO of Activision Publishing, said in a corporate statement. "We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing."

"Reviewing our options" may mean axing of certain non-guaranteed hits or shopping them out to another publisher.

Griffith is also quoted as saying "We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organization and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing's long-term corporate objectives."

That press release speak for "people are going to lose their jobs."

Thanks to Nirolak for the tip.

The Comic-Con demo takes place in the New York public library, the location featured at the beginning of the first Ghostbusters film. As the four Ghostbusters enter the library — Winston Zeddemore, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz and you, the new recruit — the cheers of New Yorkers can be heard in the distance.

The 'Busters are tasked with taking out a few unwelcome guests holed up in the library, one being the librarian ghost seen in the first film. The demo introduces the player to the PKE meter, which senses ectoplasmic activity and scans spirits and ectoplasmic residue a la the visor in Metroid Prime.

Used in conjunction with the "paragoggles", you'll be able to hunt down evidence and find traces of ghosts. Hitting the Y button the Xbox 360 controller brought up the PKE meter and switched to first-person paragoggle mode.

After tracing one of the specters into the basement, we came across one of the game's mini-boss fights. As we entered a huge room in the library and met up with the other three Ghostbusters, a giant book golem, essentially a swirling mass of books with a reading lamp for a head, attacked.

While it wasn't clear what we had to do to defeat the thing after scanning it, Stantz just encourage us to cooperate and saturate the thing with proton pack beams.

Your proton pack has a very film accurate feel to it. It feels wildly out of control (in a good way) and has a few alternate modes of fire. You can do a "slam" move with the left trigger to drain a ghost of its energy, essentially firing a burst of extra proton pack power. The backpack can also overheat when used for long stretches, so you'll have to vent it if you don't want an interrupted proton stream.

After our book golem fight — which took far, far longer than we thought it would — we headed further into the depths of library, the location of the librarian ghost. Walking through the aisles of the library archives, we were attacked by flying books, moving book shelves and a occasionally, a ghost known as the Collector.

We met up with the Collector, who threw dozens of animated books and whatever library furniture was in the room at our character and Ray Stantz. This was our first attempt at using the ghost trap, which the player can toss on the floor with the X button. Positioning the ghost by manipulating it with your proton beam is no easy task, even with an AI controlled Stantz helping us out.

At one point, Stantz went down and we had to revive him with the A button, making our final push against the Collector a bit easier. After containing the flying specter with the beam, then slamming it against the walls and ceilings, we finally got the Collector into the containment unit, ending our demo.

We were pleasantly surprised at how well the game captured the mood of the first film, no doubt helped by the inclusion of voices of Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. None of Bill Murray's dialogue was featured in the demo level, sadly, but what we did hear of the other actors sounded great.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game has attention to detail — and fan service — in spades. The PKE meter model looks spot on and the menu selection screen, the Ghostbusters firehouse HQ, is a nice touch.

The game simply looks fantastic, with beautifully modeled characters and props. Our main complaint — a minor complaint — with the game's visuals were the overly glossy, over bloom-lighted graphics. Otherwise, the game looks brilliant.

One thing we hope is addressed are the cues that direct a player what to do next and how to use their ghost bustin' tools. We actually restarted the demo because we felt like we'd missed some sort of critical direction from the NPCs. Turns out we just hadn't scanned a display case (one that we didn't even see during a few minutes of poking around). We also suspect that our book golem fight took much longer than necessary because we weren't really familiar with the alternate firing modes of the proton pack. Hopefully, this issue can simply be chalked up to the limited available play time.

It may be Ghostbusters nostalgia taking over, but our brief taste of the game did feel like a return to form for the property. The whole experience captured the experience, or what we assume the experience, of being a part of the Ghostbuster team would be like. We're very, very excited to get our hands on the game again.

Board chairman Rene Penisson said he's "delighted that the merger is completed," and that the new company is "determined to 'think big!'"

The merger was first announced in December of 2007. Through it, Blizzard and Sierra parent Vivendi becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision, scoring 295.3 new shares of Activision stock. It'll also buy 62.9 million new shares for a total of $1.7 billion - the result is that Vivendi owns a stake of about 52 percent in its new parent company.

Announcement follows the jump.

Vivendi and Activision Complete Transaction to Create Activision Blizzard
World's Most Profitable Pure-Play Online and Console Game
Publisher

Cash Tender Offer for Up to 146.5 Million of Activision Blizzard
Shares at $27.50 Per Share to Commence Within Five Business Days

Vivendi Owns 52% on a Fully Diluted Basis/54% of Outstanding
Shares of Activision Blizzard

PARIS & SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Vivendi (Euronext Paris: VIV) and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the completion of the transaction announced on December 2, 2007 to create Activision Blizzard, as the world's most profitable pure-play online and console game publisher. Activision Blizzard was formed by combining Activision, one of the world's leading independent publishers of interactive entertainment, and Vivendi Games, Vivendi's interactive entertainment business, which includes Blizzard Entertainment's(R) World of Warcraft(R), the world's #1 subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Activision Blizzard will continue to operate as a public company traded on Nasdaq under the ticker ATVI.

Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, said: "We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential. I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe."

Rene Penisson, Chairman of Activision Blizzard, added: "We are delighted that the merger has been completed. We are very excited about the opportunity for Activision Blizzard to create a broader entertainment software platform. We are leaders across North America and Europe and are creating a substantial footprint in the rapidly growing Asian market. We are determined to 'think big'!"

"The completion of this transaction marks the beginning of an important new chapter in the history of interactive entertainment," said Robert Kotick, President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard has leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry. With more than 10.7 million subscribers on World of Warcraft, and with tens of millions of people playing Guitar Hero, Activision Blizzard's games are transcending the traditional stereotypes and are more popular as a form of entertainment than ever before. We look forward to building upon our brands to create value for our shareholders, customers and consumers."

"From the beginning, our goal has been to make the best games in the world, and this transaction strengthens our ability to do just that," said Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment cofounder and Chief Executive Officer. "As part of Activision Blizzard we'll have the reach and resources to share our games with an even wider audience — while maintaining the same approach as always to providing high-quality entertainment and services to our players."

In addition to World of Warcraft, the #1 subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, the transaction brings together some of the world's leading interactive entertainment franchises including Guitar Hero(R), the #1 family entertainment and #1 music-based franchise; Call of Duty(R), the #1 first-person action franchise; Tony Hawk, the #1 action sports franchise; Spider-Man, the #1 Super Hero franchise; Cabela's(R), the #1 sports hunting franchise; and two of the top-ten kids movie-based franchises, Shrek and Madagascar(TM), for calendar year 2005 through 2007 according to the NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group.

The transaction was approved by Activision's stockholders at a special stockholder meeting on July 8, 2008 and closed on July 9, 2008.

Structure and Terms of the Transaction

Under the terms of the agreement, Vivendi Games merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision and shares of Vivendi Games were converted into approximately 295.3 million new shares of Activision common stock. Concurrently with the merger, Vivendi purchased approximately 62.9 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share for a total of approximately $1.7 billion in cash, resulting in a total Vivendi ownership stake in Activision Blizzard of approximately 52% on a fully diluted basis and approximately 54% of shares outstanding.

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, within five business days of the closing of the transaction, Activision Blizzard will launch a $4 billion all-cash tender offer to purchase up to 146.5 million Activision Blizzard common shares at $27.50 per share. To the extent that Activision's stockholders participate in the tender offer, the tender offer may be funded with Activision Blizzard's available cash on hand at closing, borrowings made under credit facilities from Vivendi, and proceeds from the issuance of additional shares to Vivendi for up to $700 million. If the tender offer were fully subscribed, Vivendi would own an approximate 68% ownership stake in Activision Blizzard on a fully diluted basis.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive in its first year post-closing for Activision's stockholders on a non-GAAP basis excluding equity-based compensation, one time costs related to the transaction, the impact of purchase price accounting related adjustments including amortization of intangibles, and the impact of the change in deferred net revenues and cost of sales related to online-enabled games.

Both Activision and Blizzard Entertainment's businesses have maintained their momentum and Activision Blizzard is well positioned to exceed the financial goals set for the combined company at the time of the deal announcement.

Board & Management

The Board of Directors of Activision Blizzard consists of eleven members: six directors designated by Vivendi, two Activision management directors and three independent directors from Activision's board of directors. Rene Penisson, a member of the Management Board of Vivendi and Chairman of Vivendi Games, will serve as Chairman of Activision Blizzard. Brian Kelly, Co-Chairman of Activision, will serve as Co-Chairman of Activision Blizzard. The three independent directors are Richard Sarnoff, Robert J. Corti and Robert Morgado. Other Activision Blizzard directors will be Robert Kotick (President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard), Bruce Hack (Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard), Jean-Bernard Levy (Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi), Doug Morris (Member of the Management Board of Vivendi and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Music Group), Philippe Capron (Member of the Management Board and Chief Financial Officer of Vivendi), and Frederic Crepin (Senior Vice President, Head of Legal Department of Vivendi).

Activision Blizzard is drawing on an accomplished group of leaders from both companies: Robert Kotick is President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. Mike Griffith is serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing, which includes the Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions in addition to the Activision business.

Bruce Hack, who served as Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi Games, is Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard, accountable for leading the merger integration and the finance, human resources and legal functions. Blizzard Entertainment cofounder, Mike Morhaime, will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blizzard Entertainment. Thomas Tippl, formerly Chief Financial Officer of Activision Publishing, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Activision Blizzard and Jean-Francois Grollemund, Chief Financial Officer of Vivendi Games, has been appointed Chief Merger Officer of Activision Blizzard.

Portfolio of Video Games and Franchises

Activision Blizzard's portfolio includes best-selling video games such as Guitar Hero(R), Call of Duty(R), and Tony Hawk, as well as Spider-Man(TM), X-Men(TM), Shrek(R), James Bond(TM) and TRANSFORMERS(TM), leading franchises such as Crash Bandicoot(TM) and Spyro(TM) and Blizzard Entertainment's(R) StarCraft(R), Diablo(R), and Warcraft(R) franchises including the global #1 subscription-based massively multi-player online role-playing game, World Of Warcraft(R).

About Activision Blizzard

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.

Activision Blizzard maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia, Chile, India, Japan China, Taiwan and South Korea. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com.

Important Additional Information has been and will be filed with the SEC

THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT AN OFFER TO BUY OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY SECURITIES. THE SOLICITATION AND THE OFFER TO BUY SHARES OF ACTIVISION BLIZZARD'S COMMON STOCK WILL ONLY BE MADE PURSUANT TO AN OFFER TO PURCHASE AND RELATED MATERIALS THAT ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INTENDS TO FILE WITH THE SEC. ONCE FILED, ACTIVISION BLIZZARD STOCKHOLDERS SHOULD READ THESE MATERIALS CAREFULLY PRIOR TO MAKING ANY DECISIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE OFFER BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE OFFER. ONCE FILED, ACTIVISION BLIZZARD STOCKHOLDERS WILL BE ABLE TO OBTAIN THE OFFER TO PURCHASE AND RELATED MATERIALS WITH RESPECT TO THE OFFER FREE OF CHARGE AT THE SEC'S WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV, OR FROM THE INFORMATION AGENT NAMED IN THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Blizzard's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In this release, they are identified by references to dates after the date of this release and words such as "outlook", "will," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes", "may", "expects," "intends," and similar expressions. Factors that could cause Activision Blizzard's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision Blizzard's titles in its fiscal year 2009, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Blizzard's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Blizzard's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard's success in integrating the operations of Activision and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include the further implementation, acceptance and effectiveness of the remedial measures recommended or adopted by the special sub-committee of independent directors established in July 2006 to review historical stock option granting practices by Activision Blizzard and its board of directors, the finalization of the tentative settlement of the SEC's formal investigation and final court approval of the proposed settlement of the derivative litigation filed in July 2006 against certain current and former directors and officers of Activision Blizzard relating to Activision Blizzard's stock option granting practices, and the possibility that additional claims and proceedings will be commenced, including additional action by the SEC and/or other regulatory agencies, and other litigation unrelated to stock option granting practices and any additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and the definitive proxy statement filed on June 6, 2008 in connection with the proposed transaction with Vivendi. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and Activision Blizzard assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

He also accepts the fact he'll always be remembered as the fourth Ghostbuster, although he had a much bigger part in the original script. "I was the guy who got slimed in the hotel, but I guess the studio felt they wanted more stuff for Bill Murray," Hudson reveals. "I was the guy who thought of the marshmallow man on the rooftop, but then it became Danny [Aykroyd]'s character." It was only after he won the part of Winston that the decision was made to reduce the character's role. "And they didn't do that till the day before we started shooting, so I didn't have time to adjust," Hudson says. "Yeah, when the part was cut there was some frustrating stuff associated with that. But it was what it was, and it is what it is. 24 years later, people still like the movie, and I'm glad."

Other tidbit bits include Bill Murray's reluctance to sign-off on a Ghostbuster sequel that would pass the proton packs off to some younger dudes.

Ghostbusters' Ernie Hudson [Eurogamer] [Pic]