PC release date...

Well, I'm guessing most of you have worked out the PC version was NOT released today. As for when we might see it... Amazon is still saying it is released and will ship in 1 to 2 weeks. But the other date floating around seems to be August 9.

If anyone has any other news, post in the comments!

There is another...

I was just looking through some of my files and happened on another Wallpaper from the famous Algarys. And I think this is my favourite! Very nicely composed scene, with the placement of the gun.

And a double bonus today an updated FAQ and an all new Game Script from the famous Berserker! Just click on the link on the right to get it.

Advent Rising sneaks in to Top 20 for June...

It just made it... but Advent Rising appears in the Top 20 selling titles for June.

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Xbox) Take-Two

2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (PS2) LucasArts

3. Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox) Microsoft

4. Medal of Honor: European Assault (PS2) Electronic Arts

5. LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (PS2) Eidos

6. Destroy All Humans! (PS2) THQ

7. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2) Take-Two

8. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Xbox) LucasArts

9. Destroy All Humans! (Xbox) THQ

10. Madagascar (PS2) Activision

11. Medal of Honor: European Assault (Xbox) Electronic Arts

12. Forza Motorsport (Xbox) Microsoft

13. God of War (PS2) Sony

14. Batman Begins (PS2) Electronic Arts

15. LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (Xbox) Eidos

16. Juiced (PS2) THQ

17. MVP Baseball 2005 (PS2) Electronic Arts

18. Madagascar (Cube) Activision

19. Advent Rising (Xbox) Majesco

20. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (Xbox) Take-Two

Figures from NPD Funworld IGN Article

More Majesco troubles...

2 things to point out today.

Majesco is now the subject of four class-action lawsuits from shareholders over the share price disaster described below. They are contending that they were mislead on earnings forecasts.
Gamespot article

It is much to early to predict what the outcome will be and what effect this will have on the Advent Trilogy, needless to say they are probably a little distracted from getting on with the business at hand, which is running the $1million contest and hyping the PC release. (Should be released in a week but has ANYONE seen ANY coverage ANYWHERE?)

Secondly - carterman pointed out in the comments below that Sobe put up the $1million for the 'Race to save Humanity' contest. Can anyone confirm this? If so, the status of the contest may be quite different to what I described below. If I were Sobe, I may throw a spanner in the works though based on not getting value for money. (Especially if they were told Advent would ship 500,000 units or something)

Majesco in trouble...

This news is a bit old, but I thought I would write something about it in the context of the $1mill contest.

Majesco is projecting a loss of around $16 million for the year ending October 31, down from a projected PROFIT of around the same amount.
Gamespot article
The CEO promptly stepped down and check out what happened to the share price!

Some of the blame for the poor performance goes to the poor sales of Psychonauts and Advent Rising. Did the marketing efforts behind these two fail? Or did the games just not hit the right note with gamers?

Now all of this of course coincides with the 'temporary' suspension of the $1mill 'Race for Humanity'. While the contest was beset with technical issues, it's hard to think that there is no relation between the two events.

I'll take two looks at this, from a gamer/consumer point of view and from Majesco.

For the average gamer trying their best to win the million (and some trying pretty damn hard), they are being severely dudded if the contest is pulled. A million was promised on the game slick, and a company wanting to protect it's image should honour that committment.

BUT that is a luxury Majesco may not have. The cost of the competition is probably much more than $1million and anyway they can limit their October loss will be important for their shareholders and possibly the companies future. And the promotion has already basically failed. It would have been designed to quickly move units of the shelf - 'available for the first 500,000 customers'. There is no way the game has sold anything near that. If Majesco continues the competition it won't be getting many (any?) more sales as a result.

So basically it comes down to a fairly straight forward tradeoff decision.
What is more valuable?
- To protect it's image with the gamers that have bought the game and tried to take part in the contest (potentially a quite small number). ALSO to limit the spill over damage that a contest halt would have on their other titles sales. Hard to say, but I think this might be limited. Psychonauts fans are not buying the game because of the Majesco name. Same for their future releases BloodRayne, Jaws etc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole contest fiasco and subsequent postponment has not been covered in any gaming media? The fallout from a complete cancellation might be small. (or maybe they will just not say anything for the next few months and hope everybody just forgets about it)
OR
- The cash needed to actually continue the contest.

So... basically if you are waiting for the contest to restart, don't hold your breath. If it does start again, consider it a nice bonus... and I would also consider your odds of winning will have improved considerably with the number of people that would have lost interest by now.

Advent Comic on the way...

As mentioned by subordinator in the comments to the previous post, an Advent Rising comic is on the way.

No real details around at the moment it seems, but this is what one of the authors working on the project, Rob M. Worley had to say:

"Working on 'Advent Rising' has been a great, collaborative learning experience," said Worley. "We're working that book sort of old school Stan and Jack style, so there's a lot of back and forth with me, the layout artist Arthur Dela Cruz, the editors Teresa Focarile and Bill Jemas, the finish artist Cliff Richards. It's really fun because there are so many ideas going around and the whole thing seems really comfortable for everyone.

Link to original Comic Book Resources article.

Will it be any good? I thought the mini-Preview comic was a bit 'meh' with some average dialog... but that was just a promo thing really. Could be very interesting to see what story is done in the new Comics and/or what part of the universe they play with.

Also of note today, Version 1.2 of Berserker's walkthrough is now up!

No news is good news?

No.

I've been away from a decent computer and internet connection for a week and it seems that basically nothing has happened in the land of Advent Rising.

- No European release.
- No PC release. (Now look for it at the end of the month)
- No restart to the contest.

I would not be all that surprised if it wasn't restarted at all. If the game has sold a very small number of units, it might be better for Majesco to call the whole thing off. I'm sure they will have included some such clause in the conditions, and if it isn't moving unit, who cares if they piss off some fans?

Time will tell...