Kotaku: the godfather

The World Ends With Batman, Brando And The Spy

AJ Glasser — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:30:00 MDT

Today's Kotaku pumpkin patch includes the Godfather, Batman, the Spy from Team Fortress 2 and the World Ends With You. Cheers to Chris Wells, Lee Harris, Kevin "ShadesBot" Moore and Chae Wells!

Some of you keep starting your pumpkin emails with "Mine's terrible, but..." Seriously, guys, it doesn't matter. You want to see how bad my pumpkin skillz are? Check out the last image. It's supposed to be Bubs from Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (which is really just a Bubs stencil from Homestarrunner.com) — but it kind of looks like a retarded Popple. Or Gary Busey, depending on whether or not it's lit up.

So, don't be shy! Send me your gaming pumpkins!

EA Threatened Over Godfather Machine Guns

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:00:00 MDT

EA's Godfather series features two weapons bearing the name "Dillinger". They are, of course, a tip of the hat to bank robber John Dillinger. But the supposed Dillinger estate are having none of it.

Jeffery Scalf, who says his grandmother was Dillinger's half sister (I know, I know), has threatened EA with a lawsuit unless they pay him "millions of dollars" for the use of his alleged ancestor's name on the weapons.

He's made the threat under the assumption he has control over all aspects of the late Dillinger's estate, including any and all depictions of his likeness and/or name. Best of all, it's not the first time he's tried it; in 2007 he tried to stop a local festival in Arizona from calling itself "Dillinger Days".

To protect themselves from Scalf's tactics, EA have filed a request with a judge in San Francisco to dismiss the case, and to grant them permission to use the name "Dillinger" whenever and however they like, claiming the games' status as "works of artistic expression" cover them under the First Amendment.

EA vs Dillinger llc [US District Court of California, via GamePolitics]

Godfather: The Lawsuit Settled

Owen Good — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:30:00 MST

Paramount and the estate of "The Godfather" author Mario Puzo settled their $1 million dustup over how much was owed to whom over sales and rentals of the 2006 game.

The estate of Puzo, who died in 1999, sued Paramount Pictures Corp., which licensed the game to Electronic Arts. The two sides appeared headed for trial until the agreement late Friday. Its terms were not disclosed.

"We think it's a terrific settlement," said Bert Fields, the lawyer for the Puzo estate, Bert Fields. "This involved one of the most admired films of all time."

EA was not involved in the lawsuit. The litigation has nothing to do with the game's delayed release into April. EA moved it out to make sure its release wasn't going up against the likes of Killzone 2, Halo Wars and Street Fighter IV.

Godfather Estate Settles Video Game Lawsuit [Agence France-Presse at Yahoo! via VE3D]

The Godfather II: Build Your Custom Crews

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:40:15 MST

If you missed the option of rollin' with your homies in Grand Theft Auto IV, EA wants to appeal to your crew-building, thug-managing side with The Godfather II.

The class-based options sound clever alright, but we're not sure that this is enough to get us fired up for another Godfather adventure. After all, I think some of us were keeping an eye on the original Godfather game just to see what a horrible disaster it would be.

Shame that EA let us down. Now we're expecting this one to be good, what with that vicious back-stabbing and those flamboyant shirt collars. Oh, the shirt collars!

NBA Live 08 To Feature Disappearing Players

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:40:26 MDT

It's no secret that the screenshots marketing departments distribute are regularly touched up by someone in the art department. As they're often not indicative of actual gameplay, what's the harm? None. No one wants to look at ugly screenshots. However, today's screenshot debacle comes from EA's NBA Live 08, also famous for the hilarious single-wheeled car shot from The Godfather. Can't quite see what the hubbub is about, bub? Make the jumpshot for a detailed pic.

Oopsie! Either someone forgot to review the art assets for NBA Live 08 or an unspecified player for the Raptors is about to be wiped out of existence forever because his parents are in danger of never sharing a magical kiss at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance.

EA shows clearest 'bullshot' in a long time [Joystiq]

EA Godfather Sequel?

Kim Phu — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:40:00 MDT

An industry analyst by the name of Todd Greenwald spent some time at Electronic Arts in Redwood City and found out some interesting developments that are happening over in their neck of the woods. After building the open-world engine from the ground up for The Godfather, EA will be cutting costs by using the same engine in five different franchises. One of them includes the sequel to The Godfather (although there was no mention of its release) and another game that is using the engine is the new Simpson's Game coming out later this year. EA has already had a stellar year and since cost-cutting usually doesn't typically pass over to the consumer, we can only hope that at least we'll can squeeze a few extra games out of them in the future. Kim Phu

EA recouping Godfather costs with seque [Games Industry Biz]

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:01:34 MDT

You'd think that playing brand spankin' new Capcom games for hours yesterday, amid a sea of heavy hors d'oeuvres and free drinks, that I'd somehow tire from the videogame exposure. Wrong! Not only did this editor get the 10:30 PM flight back to Los Angeles in the nick of time, but he braved the slow-as-molasses PlayStation Network download speeds to get his hands on Mortal Kombat II. Then I played until 2 AM.

I'll write more about all that Capcom business later (think 5 PM Pacific Standard Time), but right now I'm gonna talk about games. This weekend's games, to be precise. In addition to schooling anonymous chumps with my Liu Kang skills, I'm going to take advantage of my free mornings to play some Super Paper Mario. That is, if I can steal away the Wii-mote from my Godfather obsessed roommate.

Other than that, it's party time. I hope everyone has a good weekend and that when they're not seeing Grindhouse at the theatre (ahem!), they're getting their game on. Now let's make with the game lists people! Michael McWhertor

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:40:57 MDT

In a week already rich with videogaming (and writing about videogaming), it makes this associate editor pine for a day off from the digital escapism. We've already played a full workweek's worth of The Godfather Blackhand Edition, we spent hours at the local watering hole playing Guitar Hero II on stage, and last night saw our monthly social gaming event, Geek Night, take place in Culver City.

The Godfather, Guitar Hero II, Motorstorm, Excite Truck, SSX Blur, Def Jam Icon, we played it all. In fact, last night, one of the Geek Night attendees even busted out a WonderSwan after a round of intense voting on the Everybody Votes Channel. Yeah, we partied that hard.

So, tonight, after work is done, the dishes are washed, Grindhouse has been viewed, and we've imbibed into a near coma as is our wont, we'll probably just snuggle up with some Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime and dream of tank battles. What about you? What are you playing this weekend? Michael McWhertor

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:40:02 MDT

Sometimes, when faced with pure obligation, one is known to procrastinate. The "one" in this example will be me, for reference. Whether it's paying bills, booking travel for upcoming events, or engaging in simple grooming, things like Desktop Tower Defense and compulsive Gmail checking often find a way to invade my work time and my obligation time.

So when The Godfather was tossed lovingly upon my front porch by the Man In Brown, I felt that wave of warm apathy overtake me, ensuring that my forced-fun obligation to play (and write about) the PLAYSTATION 3 and Wii ports would be somewhat delayed. What was surprising was that I've actually played the damn thing quite a bit and will continue to play throughout the weekend. A lot. We've already racked up a solid 15 hours worth in my house and the play train isn't stopping any time soon.

So, you know what I'll be doing with my downtime this weekend. What about yourself? Hit the comments and brag about this week's new purchased treasures or retro revisits. Michael McWhertor

The Godfather: The Don's Edition Early Impressions

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:20:07 MDT

The UPS man showed up at my door yesterday with another package. This time with two copies of EA's recent ports of GTA contender The Godfather. I tried out the PLAYSTATION 3 version this morning, The Godfather: The Don's Edition, and came away pretty happy.

This wasn't a title I was expecting to care for, given my apathy toward the GTA franchise—mostly due to the spotty controls—and it's pioneering open-ended gameplay. You see, I'm the kind of guy who likes being told where to go, what to do, and given a mini-map telling me how to get there. I'm a lazy gamer. And I don't really care for licensed IP.

That said, when two hours flew by exploring the city, extorting money from local businessmen and knocking the school spirit out of some college kids with a baseball bat, I knew my initial prejudices had kept me from a surprisingly solid game.

Many of you have probably already played The Godfather when it was released on the PS2, Xbox, PC or PSP, and you won't find much new here to convince you to replay it. The SIXAXIS control is at times perfect and other times maddening. Graphically, the game looks below average at best—city streets are unusually empty and no one at Team Ninja will be lauding EA for its brilliant texture work. It has a few wrinkles in the presentation and visuals departments, but it's still going to get a ton of play time from me.

I'm going to spend more time with it tonight, then try out the Wii version later and compare the two. Look for impressions of The Blackhand Edition, as well as final thoughts on both over the next couple days. Michael McWhertor

EA, Nike Kick Out NBA Street Air Jordans

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 14:40:51 MST

EA has teamed up with Nike to release a very limited number of NBA Street branded Nike Air Jordan B'Loyals in conjunction with the upcoming PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 release NBA Street Homecourt. Only one hundred pairs will be made, with sixty of those up for grabs in an online contest kicking off soon, according to Hypebeast.

I'm strictly a Nike Dunk man, so I'll keep myself out of the competition. Good luck, sneakerheads! Michael McWhertor

EA NBA Street Homecourt x Air Jordan B'Loyal [Hypebeast - Juan for the assist!]

Motion Controls Coming to Godfather Wii, PS3

Brian Crecente — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:00:01 MST

Who would have thunk it, Electronic Arts is bringing a popular franchise over to two more consoles?

The company today announced The Godfather: The Don's Edition for the Playstation 3 and The Godfather: Blackhand Edition for the Wii.

The PS3 version will ship with the Corleone Expansion Pack, which features new gameplay and missions, as well as a new Shipyard and Rail yard to explore. The game will also make use of the Sixaxis motion controls to let you shake people around.

The Wii version will, of course, be dipped in motion-control goodness, letting you use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to deliver a beatdown and the Remote to point and aim your gun.

The PS3 version will, I'm sure, be just fine, but the Wii version could swing either way. I could see it having a tacked on feel, sort of like with Call of Duty 3, or causing the game to really pop like with Madden. Brian Crecente

EA Drops Prices On Tons of Titles

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:20:05 MST

Starting tomorrow, a huge number of EA titles are going to see substantial price drops, across virtually every system. Only the Wii and PS3 will continue to see EA published games stay at current prices. The drop affects a number of next-gen priced Xbox 360 games, including Fight Night Round 3, The Godfather, and Battlefield 2 Modern Combat, bringing them to saner MSRPs.

Here's a small sampling:

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Xbox 360 - Was: $49.99 New: $29.99
Def Jam Fight for New York: The Takedown
PSP - Was: $39.99 New: $29.99

Fight Night Round 3
PlayStation 2 - Was: $39.99 New: $19.99
PSP - Was: $29.99 New: $19.99
Xbox 360 - Was: $59.99 New: $29.99
Xbox - Was: $29.99 New: $19.99

Madden NFL 07
Xbox 360 - Was: $59.99 New: $49.99
Xbox - Was: $39.99 New: $29.99
GBA - Was: $29.99 New: $19.99
GameCube - Was: $39.99 New: $29.99
PlayStation 2 - Was: $39.99 New: $29.99
PSP - Was: $39.99 New: $29.99

Game Invasion has the full, exclusive list. Check it out if you're in the mood to spend this weekend. Michael McWhertor

Exclusive: EA Price Drops [Game Invasion, thanks Janson!]

Xbox 360: Adult Games For Japanese Adults

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:22:09 MST

With titles like Idolm@ster and Onechanbara, the Xbox 360 is a console for Japanese consumers with discerning tastes. Not only that, but hit "American" titles like Dead Rising and Gears of War get slapped with country's dreaded games-as-porn "Z" rating. And Microsoft is starting to realize this. And hopefully capitalize on it.

Next January, Xbox Japan is holding an "Adult Games Festa" at the Akihabara UDX 3D Theater. Save for sandbox game Crackdown and the cross platform Vampire Rain, the other games aren't exactly new: Gears of War, Dead Rising, The Godfather and Onechanbara vorteX. The 18 years-old and over event kicks off at 3:30 pm on the 12th and ends at 10 pm, because ADULTS play video games LATE. Except for me. Brian Ashcraft

Not For Kids [Xbox Japan]

LucasArts Developing Darth Vader Game

Brian Crecente — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:06:40 MDT

The New York Times looks at the LucasArts revival in a technology story that ran today. Laura M. Holson writes that George Lucas decided in 2004 to reinvigorate their ailing game development arm and strive to make that branch one of the top five game developers in the world.

Don't be so quick to laugh, according to the article LucasArts has jumped from number 13 to number 8 in game sales and they've got some interesting things up their sleeves.

Some interesting bits and pieces from the article:

On creating new franchises:

"We are not the 'Star Wars' game company," said Micheline Chau, president of Lucasfilm. "And Jim knows what he has to do."
While the games division makes up about 25 percent of overall revenue for Lucasfilm, Ms. Chau said, it accounts for only 10 percent of the company's operating profit. This is why one of Mr. Ward's main goals is to create original franchises.

"The 'Star Wars' brand is a massive advantage, but they are going to have to market new innovation," said John Riccitiello, a partner at the video game investor Elevation Partners, who has known Mr. Ward for several years. "It's early. It may take another five years for their story to develop, but it is going to be interesting."

On game delays:

Mr. Ward took a different approach to video game advertising. For example, he participated last November in "The Apprentice" to promote not only the DVD release of "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" but the Star Wars Battlefront II game as well.
And he is openly critical of Electronic Arts, a competitor, for not being able to deliver its Godfather video game to consumers on time. "It is absolutely a sin," he proclaimed.

(Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic Arts, said, "Delaying the Godfather wasn't an easy decision, but getting it right was crucial to the future of the franchise.")

On a new Star Wars game (I thought they weren't the Star Wars game company?)

Their excitement was palpable on a recent afternoon, when Mr. Ward, Mr. Hirschmann and Haden Blackman, the project leader of a forthcoming "Star Wars" game, reviewed all of the company's recent projects. Mr. Blackman outlined a new storyline that delved deeper into Darth Vader's history.
Mr. Hirschmann later demonstrated a test game, shouting and jumping each time a storm trooper tumbled onscreen, the character barely catching his fingers on the pixel ledge. And he gleefully explained how researchers had tracked down images of San Francisco buildings from 1915 for the future Indiana Jones game.

At LucasArts, No Playing Around in Quest to Be No. 1
[New York Times, thanks David]

Swiming With Fishes: The Making of The Godfather

Brian Crecente — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:04:43 MST

I see that my review of The Godfather: The Game scored a bit higher than most games sites. It's weird, typically my score tends to be right in there with game sites then occasionally we just completely disagree. For instance, I really didn't like Pursuit Force, I gave it a C-.
The Godfather game scored an A- with me, though it looks like most people gave it a high C or low B.
I also wrote up a feature package on the game that included a main story which talked about the making of the game and the fact that it is both a departure for EA from their typical approach of turning a movie into a game and their first entry into the Grand Theft Auto style of game.
The rest of the package include:
Mining 70s Cinema
Have time to kill? Bank on some action
Who's on board
Check it out if you're interested in the game. There's some interesting tidbits, like EA's run-in with Francis Ford Coppola and recording session with Marlon Brando.

Games of the Week: Me And My Corleone

Michael McWhertor — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:30:39 MST

This week's releases are so huge that I've had to split them up. And, like I do every Sunday, I don't list everything that's coming out, just the big big stuff (and absolutely no Dragonball games!). Sorry! That's the policy.

The Godfather (PC, PS2, Xbox)
EA's big gamble with Mario Puzo's mobster franchise finally ships. Can it escape the GTA shadow? Haters wait with bated breath!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC, Xbox 360)
Bethesda's massive open-ended RPG continues the Elder Scrolls story, but this time its way prettier. It's a good time to be a 360 owner.

Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)
The oft-delayed (don't forget the demo was a DS launch pack-in) FPS Metroid game hits the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection with full force.

Me & My Katamari (PSP)
The third (and final?) rolling adventure squeezes itself onto a UMD. Early reviews are better than expected.

Tetris DS (DS)
Classic Tetris modes, classic Nintendo characters, online Wi-Fi battles, and 10-player game share puzzling.

Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (PSP)
Hey, it's still card based strategy, not traditional MG stealth adventure gameplay. Don't forget!

Suikoden V (PS2)
Konami's long running RPG series is back with another 108 characters.

Capcom Classics Remixed (PSP)
The PSP port of last year's Capcom Classics Collection, but now with more Street Fighter, more Strider, more Magic Sword and wireless multi-play.

Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble (PSP)
The VJ fighter that shipped last November for the Gamecube goes portable.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (Xbox, Xbox 360)
Ubisoft's new brand of WWII dogfighting takes off this week on both kinds of Xboxes. Under my radar, but still looks pretty.

So... whatcha getting? I'm probably just picking up MPH and Capcom Classic Remixed, but we'll see how the wallet holds up. I'm still working on Mega Man Powered Up.

The Godfather Cost EA $810 Million

Michael McWhertor — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:54:02 MST

No, really. Sure, game development clocked in around $10-20 million, but when EA announced the game would be delayed, missing the critical holiday sales period, the financial impact on the company was somewhere in the realm of $800 mill. Now at the $40 price point, EA is making it even more difficult to recover their losses.

The game ships this week for PC and current generation consoles, with an Xbox 360 (and surely a PS3) version planned for the next holiday season.

EA Has 'Lot to prove' With Godfather Game [Financial Times]

EA: Godfather II, Godfather III Coming

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 09:30:44 MST

The BBC was granted a meeting with the fannuchios at EA, specifically, executive producer David DeMartini who talks about the challenges of one-upping the GTA franchise — it's never fun (or wise) to be tagged by PR folks or press as a genre leader-killer.

He also discusses the game's unfortunate delays and the inevitable Godfather game sequels.

Says DeMartini:

"We went into this venture taking into consideration the establishment of a brand new franchise. Our intention is to make two and three."

Surprised? Of course not, this is EA! The only unknown at this point is whether Sofia Coppola's Godfather III performance can be properly captured in all its wooden glory by the next-generation of consoles.

Godfather classic steps into games [BBC]

EA Current-Gen Price Cut Extends Further

lsmith — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:43:54 MST

We reported in January that EA was cutting the price on current generation games, but GameDaily Biz pointed out that these price cuts extended deeper than the Madden and Medal of Honor games that were originally among the reduced price titles. What else? How about EA's first person shooter Black due Feb. 28 and The Godfather both hitting shelves for $39.99? Sounds good.

EA Lowering Prices on Current Gen [GameDaily Biz]
EA Cuts Price on Current-Gen Games