The UpStream

It seems that the universities of this country have lately been known for their reports, research and claims on crazy subject matter. This week's case comes out of the University of Michigan, where economics professor Dr. Jeffrey MacKie-Mason has estimated that the neo-communistic game company, EA, cumulatively overcharged Madden buyers between $701 million and $926 million during the years 2006 through 2009.

This outrageous claim is based off of the fact that EA now owns the licensing rights to the NFL, after outbidding then-rival 2k/TakeTwo for the purchase back in 2005. The professor recognized that his estimates are gathered on incomplete data, but has insisted that this buyout eliminated the competing NFL 2k series.

MacKie-Mason was called upon by lawyers representing Geoffrey Pecover and Jeffrey Lawrence, a pair of gamers who are named as the plaintiffs in the class-action suit against the S.S.. I mean, EA.

With the State of Emergency (Available on GameFly) that has been declared on the economy, some companies have packed up their toys and gone home, but not GameFly. They got their best minds assembled in a think tank and let the Gears of War (Available on Gamefly) turn. In this climate of turmoil and empty pockets, GameFly is somewhat InFamous (Available on GameFly) for giving gamers The Conduit (Available on GameFly) to gaming satisfaction. Who would have ever thought that this Prototype (Available on GameFly) rental company would blossom into a service with more fanatical support than the Ghostbusters (Available on Gamefly)?

When Sony announced the future release of MAG, a 256 live person massive action game, at E3, they had a vague date slated for Fall 2009, just in time to sit around the yule log and annihilate 255 of your friends and family. Apparently retailers like GameStop and GameFly have happier holiday thoughts, as they have pushed release dates on their website back to January 2010. Retailers have been expecting this title for November 24th up until a week ago.

Sony had pegged MAG, as well as God of War III, as titles that could be shipped during the fiscal 2009, which runs through March 2010.

Why should everyone have subtitles and thought clouds? Because it's easier to follow the narrative that way of course. With this topic I am wading ankle deep into the pool of raging disparity that is the "Games are Art" argument. Personally I firmly believe that games are indeed an art form and, for once, a gaming big-wig agrees with my philosophy! Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights at the recent developers conference stated,

People are no strangers to warning labels, especially in present times when everything seems to be bad for you one way or the other. We see them on anything from artist albums with explicit content to giant tanker trucks on the highway filled with toxic chemicals. Even in the world of video games there are ESRB ratings on every game but some don't think it should stop there. Fitness bloggers from Winston Salem Fitness have turned their attention on the poor, defenseless Wii Fit. They state that there are some problems with the Wii Fit's text. The way the Wii Fit incorporates BMI (Body Mass Index) into your overall health score is misleading because BMI is not necessarily related to your health. Also, there are a variety of exercises in the game that are not good exercises as agreed upon by a majority of "fitness professionals."

Don't take my word for it. Here is the end of their post:

Blizzard has another rumor fresh out of the mill and no, it's actually not about WOW... we hope. As recently as June 26th Blizzard hired Rob A. Rigole for legal console and purchased trademark applications under the category of computer games and online entertainment. The new title is "Cataclysm" and at this point no one is really sure what it is.

There is speculation of a next generation MMO or possible WOW expansion (no please) but Blizzard has many projects in the works and there is no guarantee that Cataclysm is actually anything. This could wind up like StarCraft: Ghost, Duke Nukem Forever and Half Life 2 Episode 3. Not familiar with them? That's because they don't exist yet and probably never will. What do you think?