Playing some Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War

Jeg har i de seneste par dage spillet et hyggeligt, lille spil ved navn Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War. Spillet handler om de tapre Blood Ravens under Captain Gabriel Angelos' kommando, som søger at komme til bunds i et mysterium på planeten Tartarus. Orkerne angriber i stor stil, men formålet virker uklart. Med tiden går det op for Gabriel Angelos, at flere kræfter er på spil, og at prisen for broderskab og alliance er høj.

Spillet er udviklet af Relic Entertainment og udgivet af THQ, og jeg vil blot her dele det med dig. Det består af i alt 11 af ca. 45 minutters varighed hver, og du kan se dem lige her. God fornøjelse!


English version:

For the last couple of days I have been playing a delightful, little game called Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War. The game is about the brave Blood Ravens under the command of Captain Gabriel Angelos who must uncover the secrets and mysteries surrounding the planet of Tartarus. The Orks are attacking in great numbers but something is not right. In time Gabriel Angelos realizes that other forces are operating on Tartarus and that the price for Brotherhood and Allegiance is indeed high.

The game is developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ, and I would like to share this with you. It consists of 11 missions total. Each about 45 minutes in duration, and you can watch them right here. Enjoy!

Homefront 2 ikke i fare

THQ er i problemer for tiden. Massefyringer og en ledelse der netop er gået af. Det står så galt til, at de ikke havde en stand ved dette års E3 og ikke vil have en ved Gamescom, men hvad betyder dette for udgiverens spil? I forhold til Homefront 2, hvis udvikling er gået fra Kaos Studios til Cryteks Nottingham Studio (det tidligere Free Radical Design), ser det imidlertid ikke så slemt ud.

Cevat Yerli, CEO hos Crytek, siger, at "To be fair, the way we're developing Homefront 2 is very isolated anyway. We're treating it as our own new IP and at the same time THQ is respecting us and saying, 'you guys know what you're doing' and telling us the story they'd like to have, which we're collaborating creatively on." THQ har, med andre ord, ikke tænkt sig at blande sig for meget i spillets udvikling, og det er muligvis for det bedste. Udgiveren brugte utroligt mange midler på at promovere det oprindelige Homefront og sælge det som det nye Call of Duty, men spillet levede uheldigvis ikke op til de vanvittige forventninger skabt af den afsindige markedsføring, og Kaos Studios blev lukket kun få måneder efter spillets udgivelse.

Nu da Homefront er kommet i hænderne på de kyndige designere hos Crytek, så er der mulighed for, at spillet faktisk kan blive en mindre succes, og det er noget, som THQ i allerhøjeste grad har brug for. Det bedste de kan gøre er, at give Crytek de nødvendige redskaber og midler til at gøre Homefront 2 til en uforglemmelig oplevelse.


English version:

THQ is in a lot of trouble these days. Mass firings of staff and a president who just signed off. It's so bad that they didn't have a booth at this year's E3 and won't have one at Gamescom, but what does it all mean when it comes to their games? Well, it doesn't look that grim for Homefront 2, which had its development moved from Kaos Studios to Crytek's Nottingham Studio (the former Free Radical Design).

Cevat Yerli, CEO at Crytek, said that "To be fair, the way we're developing Homefront 2 is very isolated anyway. We're treating it as our own new IP and at the same time THQ is respecting us and saying, 'you guys know what you're doing' and telling us the story they'd like to have, which we're collaborating creatively on." THQ, it seems, will not be interfering much in the game's development, and that is most likely for the best. The publisher spent a lot of energy, effort and money in promoting the original Homefront and to sell it as the new Call of Duty, but the game didn't manage to deliver on the hype and Kaos Studios was closed only a few months after release.

Now that Homefront 2 has come under the care at Crytek it is likely that the game will become a success, and that's something THQ desperately needs these days. The best thing they can do right now is to give Crytek the means and tools to make Homefront 2 an unforgettable experience.

Saints Row 4

Ja tak: Du læste rigtigt! Saints Row 4 er nu efterhånden blevet bekræftet af både THQ selv og nu ligeledes en ansat fra Volition Inc., spillets udvikler. David Payne beskriver således sig selv på LinkedIn, at han er "Lead Prop & Weapon Artist, Saints Row 4 - Volition, Inc.", og Danny Bilson fra THQ sagde allerede inden udgivelsen af Saints Row: The Third, at "I already know what Saints Row 4 is about, and it is wilder than this one, It's a good example of how you take what you have and you say, 'What can happen in the next?'"

Det bliver ikke meget mere tydeligt, og hvorfor skulle THQ og Volition Inc. ikke udvikle flere spil i den succesfulde serie? Til dato har de samlet set solgt over 11 millioner enheder af deres franchise, og Saints Row: The Third kan på egen hånd bryste sig af 4.25 millioner solgte. Saints Row er THQ's mest succesfulde IP for tiden, og det skulle ikke forbavse mig, hvis de vil forsøge at lave det til en længere serie med endnu flere spil i fremtiden. Jeg vil i så fald ikke klage!


English version:

That's right! Saints Row 4 cannot get more confirmed without actually being confirmed by either THQ or Volition Inc., the game's developer, but they have in fact confirmed it. Confused? You shouldn't be! David Payne, from Volition Inc., describes himself on LinkedIn as the "Lead Prop & Weapon Artist, Saints Row 4 - Volition, Inc.", and Danny Bilson from THQ said even before the launch of Saints Row: The Third that "I already know what Saints Row 4 is about, and it is wilder than this one, It's a good example of how you take what you have and you say, 'What can happen in the next?'"

It doesn't get more clear than this, and why shouldn't they release more games in this highly successful franchise? To this date they have shipped more than 11 million units worldwide and Saints Row: The Third alone can take pride in 4.25 million units shipped. Saints Row is the most successful IP in the house of THQ, and I wouldn't be surprised if they turned it into an even bigger franchise with several more games in the future. In which case I won't complain!

"THQ won't be around in six months"

Det var den nådesløse konklusion fra Strauss Zelnick, som til dagligt er den administrerende direktør for Take Two Interactive. Take Two Interactive er virksomheden, der blandt andet ejer Rockstar Games samt 2K Games, hvor store spilsucceser som Grand Theft Auto og ikke mindst Borderlands er blevet udviklet. Zelnick talte til en konference og kommenterede THQs forretningsmodeller, hvilket han ikke kan beskyldes at være begejstret for. THQ har længe været i økonomiske problemer, men Zelnicks kommentarer faldt forståeligt nok ikke i god jord.

"The most important difference is quality. Take-Two has the highest quality ratings among third-party publishers, according to Metacritic and most people in the industry. Quality really, really, really matters. THQ has had some good games, but their quality levels aren't even remotely ... the quality hasn't measured up.", sagde han og afrundede med følgende: "Strategy didn't work and the execution was bad. To put it another way: the food was no good and the portions were small... THQ won't be around in six months"

Om han har tænkt på Saints Row: The Third, som mange anmeldere og gamere mener er under niveauet sat i Saints Row 2, vides ikke. THQ står bag en lang række spiltitler, men på det seneste lader det til, at de aldrig helt har levet op til forventningerne. Home Front, som på papiret virkede lovende, led desværre samme skæbne som Saints Row: The Third. Tiden vil vise, om Darksiders 2 vil bringe økonomien på rette spor, men det virker ikke sandsynligt, at THQ vil lukke inden for et halvt år, som Zelnick altså hævdede.

THQ var naturligvis ikke i bedste humør, da de hørte om udtalelserne og havde dette at sige: "Obviously, Mr. Zelnick's perception of THQ is outdated and inaccurate. His comments are irresponsible and false. Perhaps he would be better off commenting on his own business." Zelnicks respons var ganske enkel: "While discussing our strategy I spoke out of turn about someone else's. It was inappropriate and I regret it.", som han fortalte til Game Informer.