We know Activision Blizzard loves sequels.

Just moments ago, the publisher revealed a slate of follow-ups coming this year at an Massive Inc. upfront attended by Stephen Totilo.

An upfront is where publishers showcase their upcoming lineup to advertisers and are a new practice for games. Upfronts occur every year for TV and movies.

This event is being held in downtown Manhattan to get advertisers pumped to buy more ads in games. Massive is a Microsoft-owned firm that did the Barack Obama ad in "Burnout Paradise."

At the meeting, Activision Blizzard showcased new games that would make sense for in-game ads, including the vaguely titled "Guitar Hero 5," which included a screen shot of gameplay with a Burger King ad to the right of the note highway.

The publisher confirmed rumors that "Tony Hawk" will be different this year. "You're not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands," said the company. The new "Tony Hawk" arrives on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and DS in October.

Additionally, Activision Blizzard acknowledged the "Call of Duty" series will move forward yet again with "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" coming this fall. No details on the game were released.

We've also heard rumors that Bizarre Creations was working on a racing-oriented "James Bond" game, which have turned out to be true. The original Bond adventure, not tied to a movie storyline, is coming this September. The former "Project Gotham Racing" studio is also working on an original racing IP for the publisher, which they tagged as "'Mario Kart' meets 'Forza.'"

Curiously, the lineup included absolutely no Blizzard Entertainment games.

If any more news breaks from the Massive Inc. upfront, we'll let you know.

Related Posts:
How To Find That Barack Obama Ad In 'Burnout Paradise'
On PlayStation 3, Barack Obama 'Burnout' Billboard Sells Something Else

Have you seen the videos promoting the launch of Ubisoft's voice-operated RTS "EndWar"?

The trailer is full of bombs and explosions -- even a shot of the Capitol Building blowing up -- as the futuristic world of "EndWar" enters near-apocalypse. These events appear to follow an evenly contested 2008 Presidential Election campaign (we don't find out who wins).

The video teases the game's release date, tomorrow, which is coincidentally (or not-so-coincidentally) the day after Americans vote for their next President. "EndWar" has a fictional premise, but it's still a bit unnerving to see it show the country and the world torn apart. Does the timing of "EndWar," combined with its grim setting, throw anyone else for a loop?

Related Posts
Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden Show Up In ‘Spore’ - As Spaceships
Obama Asks America To Put Down Their Wii Controllers And Help ‘Make History’
The Next U.S. President In Activision’s ‘Secret Service’ Game Is Caucasian, Fictional

If you're like me, you've noticed more ads for Valve's zombie shooter "Left 4 Dead" than there ever were for "The Orange Box."

"Half-Life" is Valve's bread and butter, but a press release yesterday said pre-release buzz for "Left 4 Dead" means Valve is pouring more money into pushing "Left 4 Dead" than any Valve game before it.

"Every time someone plays 'Left 4 Dead,' we witness the most overwhelmingly positive reaction that we've seen from any of our games," said Valve president and co-founder Gabe Newell in the release. "This gives us tremendous confidence in the product and why we've taken the game on the road, produced this pre-launch demo, and invested more advertising dollars on the title than any prior release from Valve."

Valve is spending $10 million on "Left 4 Dead"'s television, outdoor, print and online advertising. Have you noticed those ad dollars in your neck of the woods?

Related Posts
One-Liner: ‘Left 4 Dead’ Designer On Slow Vs. Fast Zombies
‘Left 4 Dead’’s Lead Designer Explains Why Split-Screen Has Quietly Disappeared From Games
‘Left 4 Dead’ Single-Player: You Don’t Want To Play This
‘Left 4 Dead’ Is The Online Zombie Game That ‘Resident Evil: Outbreak’ Wanted To Be

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell told us last week that violence and long form gameplay lost the casual gamer decades ago. In the ensuing years, Bushnell himself has retained a casual approach to gaming.

In addition to founding uWink, a GameWorks-like restaurant chain mixing food, drinks and games, he was recently recruited as an advisor for NeoEdge, a Silicon Valley company focused on incorporating advertising in casual games.

NeoEdge operates MostFun.com, which houses popular casual games like "Diner Dash" and "Luxor." It operates under the growing economic model of offering full versions of their games absolutely free, if you'll look at a few ads. These ads can come before, during or after a gameplay session, but unlike typical in-game advertising, they are not hidden in the environment.

For years, companies have been looking for ways to incorporate the advertising directly into the game itself. It's why Microsoft paid undisclosed millions for in-game advertising firm Massive Inc. two years ago.

But Bushnell isn't convinced that in-game advertising, like that seen most recently in Ubisoft's "Rainbow Six Vegas 2," is going to work.

"In-game advertising is much, much more [in your face] advertising and is more like a billboard," said Bushnell. "I don't believe those kinds of ads are very effective. In a game, if you're not riveted on the objectives, you're going to lose."

Bushnell looks at the TV model as a good example. TV often places advertising before a show, after a show and during set breaks in the action. The problem with the TV model, he argues, is how inflated the cost of entry has become.

A TV ad can cost upwards of millions. There are countless people playing casual games, yet not many ways to monetize it. There's opportunity there, he said.

"[TV ads] sometimes have multi-million dollar budget to really sell a message in style and grace in 30 seconds," he said. "It becomes very, very easy for an advertiser to go into the NeoEdge environment and before, middle or end of game, you can see an ad."

Advertising and games are an inevitable mix, but how do you want it served?

Analysts look at bottom lines. They make recommendations for people to make money. Cynically, you'd think an analyst would recommend sequels, annualization, keeping the talent making them behind the scenes.

That's not necessarily what Evan Wilson, senior research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, advocates. He sees financial successes coming from elevating talent, and making them a reason a consumer is interested in your project from the get-go.

"There are very few people in this world who know how to create hits. Not create a hit, but create multiple hits," said Wilson in an e-mail exchange. "Those creative minds should be recognized and remunerated in the video game industry for their contribution as much as other forms of media. From a business perspective, that might be more expensive, but if the reward is better selling games the trade-off is worth it."

But that's not how the industry works right now, unless you're a Will Wright or Hideo Kojima. Isn't elevating creative minds a risky, expensive gamble? Why would Wilson -- an analyst who should be identify how shareholders can profit, not developers -- recommend that transition?

"I'm a stock analyst," he said. "It's my job, first and foremost, to improve the performance of my clients' investments. That is done by not only recommending what is underestimated in share prices, but also helping them steer clear of what's overestimated."

A big problem, he said, is tha publishers view developers as interchangeable cogs.

Read more...