Eyebrows were raised when word of Electronic Arts filing for a loan to support its campaign to acquire Take-Two Interactive broke out. However, if there's one guy who wasn't surprised, it's the good 'ol Michael Pachter who claims he knows exactly why such loan was necessary. Find what he has to say at the full article.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, originally set to release last year, was moved to 2008 under circumstances of quality and preference. Creative director Cameron Brown of Pandemic Studios reiterated in an interview that it's on track to release in August, which Brown hopes will stick, because he wants to move on to Mercenaries 3 and even release a Mercenaries 2 for the Nintendo Wii. You read that right. More at the full story.

What did he say? EA Pandemic's Josh Resnick said in an interview that they have equal love for all of consoles currently out, but they're not about to add themselves to numerous third-party developers shoveling software for the Nintendo Wii. Pandemic's head honcho also knew that the Wii is a unique platform and that developing a Pandemic-branded title best suited for Wii requires special - and serious - study. More at the full story.

Are you curious why the upcoming Nintendo Wii game Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed is set in the 1970s? THQ and Pandemic Studios are shedding light into that with their latest blog post. You can find out why they decided to give this game a funky backdrop when you read the full article up next.

Last October, Electronic Arts announced its acquisition of VG Holding Corp., the parent company of BioWare and Pandemic Studios. It's now a little less than three months later and EA has just announced that the acquisition is now complete. More in the full article.

The Nintendo Wii is expected by many to continue its dominance over 2007's holiday season, but Janco Partners' Mike Hickey disagrees. He believes that the Microsoft Xbox 360 just might steal the show in the season of giving.

Lower price points, improved reliability, and killer titles like Halo 3 and BioShock could all come together and turn the holidays more hardcore game-oriented. Hardware and killer software scarcity during the 2007 holidays might also hurt the Nintendo Wii, according to Hickey. He mentions that "a market shift toward core gamer platforms (Microsoft Xbox 360/ Sony PS3) and a potential Sony PS3 price cut (November) should benefit ERTS this holiday."

Moving on to other gaming industry matters, Hickey also expressed some concern over BioWare/Pandemic's upcoming projects under their Electronic Arts acquisition deal. He comments:

We are cautiously optimistic over their recent acquisition of BioWare/Pandemic development studios, although considerably less positive on the Bio-Pan IRR potential despite speculation BioWare's unannounced MMO will be a Star Wars licensed release.

The analyst pointed out that though the MMO sector of gaming is a booming one, BioWare may be entering uncharted territories here. He says that there's no doubt that the developers of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights are RPG experts, but it remains to be seen how they will fare in a totally different type of effort.

In a recent interview with GameTap, Peter Moore stated his intentions to take Electronic Arts from an "American" brand to a global one. Although EA continues to be popular within the US and without, Moore feels that it doesn't "feel local" to the European and Asian market.

Moore, President of EA, also mentioned last week how EA Sports is looking at cricket as a sport, perhaps as a hint of more things to come to make the brand more global, or depending on your point of view, local to your country. As Moore explains:

I talked a lot [...] about cricket, tennis, mixed martial arts, open-wheel racing [...] all of which can make a difference in the way people perceive us. [...] We don't have that depth and penetration into the psyche of the European sports consumer. We need to change that, and we need to change that quickly.

The goal is to let consumers outside of the US to relate more to the games they play and not just feel like a "brand that has been exported." (Well, when in Rome, people say poh-tah-toh. Or is it the other way around?) At any rate, EA's recent acquisition of Bioware and Pandemic Studios should help broaden their horizons.

Check out the Read link for the full interview.

Fresh from the rumor mill - Pandemic Studios' making the sequel to the so-so Batman Begins that was released a few years back for the PlayStation 2. Word on the street is that Elevation Partners, a private equity firm that was key to an alliance being forged between Bioware and Pandemic, has acquired the rights to the actual project (allegedly titled The Dark Knight). It's highly probable that even with a different developer, Electronics Arts will still be there to publish it.

We're not sure if this is good news or not, but Pandemic Studios supposedly behind the wheel of a new Batman game gets us thinking - and dreaming. With a more than decent track record of games (Full Spectrum Warrior, Star Wars: Battlefront, Mercenaries and Destroy All Humans!), Pandemic could finally be the developing studio to give the license justice. Reportedly, the video game studio has been working on a top secret title they dubbed "Project B". Whether the "B" stands for Batman remains unconfirmed.

We'll keep a close watch on this though, so be sure to keep it locked right here for any further developments!

 

You'd be pretty hard-pressed to find someone who'll find Mercenaries 2: World in Flames as "child-friendly" -- unless their thought processes and moral whatchamacallits are all bent and skewed, that is. It looks like the people behind Mercenaries 2, however, want to do something a bit more little-folk-centric. We mean kids, OK? Not midgets.

According to a recent article in BusinessWeek, Pandemic Studios is "quietly developing a concept title for the Wii that could attract younger players." According to Andrew Goldman, Pandemic's Chief Executive, "the Wii does something new, and draws people back in." Just like it did with pandemic, we guess.

The BusinessWeek article held no details regarding what title Pandemic is currently developing for the Wii. There's a total of five unnamed projects listed in the Pandemic website, but no details on what console they're for. Perhaps it's a next-gen entry in the Army Men franchise.

Pandemic has also announced that it's working on a new Destroy All Humans title for next gen videogame consoles, so it could be that one. God knows there is no way it could be some kind of Baby Mercenaries title or something. Well, at least we hope so. Keep checking back here on QJ for more updates.

Recently, John Riccitiello stepped down from his position as CEO of VG Holdings to become the CEO of Electronic Arts, a post he left  in 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners, responsible for the merger of BioWare/Pandemic Studios. Although Riccitiello's new appointment will take place this coming April 2, analysts are already saying that Riccitiello's appointment is a good thing for Electronic Arts. 

In a note to investors, Lazard Capital Markets said that, 

Overall, we view the appointment as a positive given Mr. Riccitiello’s tenure in the video game business, familiarity with Electronic Arts, and prior CEO-level experience. While it is too early to judge what impact there will be on the company (and the executive ranks) as a result of the appointment, we believe Mr. Riccitiello is well respected within the company and the industry.

Electronic Arts continues to be profitable for investors, and a giant in the gaming industry.