Bobby Kotick Wants to Sell You Cutscenes

In a move that’s certainly smart but will also add to his reputation as an evil bastard, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick plans on selling discs containing cutscenes from Activision games. He recently told GameSpot:

If we were to go to our audience and say we have this great hour-and-a-half of linear video that we would like to make available to you at a $30 price point or $20 price point, you’d have the biggest opening weekend of any film ever. Within the next five years, you are likely to see us do that. Now that may be in partnership with somebody; it may be alone. But there will be a time when we capitalize on the relationship that we have with our audience.

Would you buy a disc filled with cutscenes? There are a number of gamers I know that would love to watch Final Fantasy XIII’s cutscenes without playing the game. A lot of those gamers would also publicly denounce this practice simply because Kotick brought it up. Is it an ingenious move on his part? Or is it eeeeeeeevil?

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Microsoft Says That Kinect Will Blow Away the Apple iPad

Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda believes that Kinect for Xbox 360 will “blow away” iPad launch sales. Either he genuinely believes that or he’s trying to outdo Aaron Greenberg’s prediction that Kinect will sell three-million units. Here’s what Tsunoda told Gamasutra:

The preorders have been really strong. As far as what we’re looking at for Holiday, this is going to be stuff that’ll blow away any of the sales you’ve seen with iPad.

I’m a big fan of Tsunoda. I loved his work on EA Sports’ Fight Night series. When the first Fight Night games were being made, Kudo and I were usually the only guys wearing shades indoors at videogame events. All those bonds aside, I’m going to give him this week’s Brian Fellow award for saying crazy sh*t. I just don’t see how Kinect’s launch will be more successful than the iPad’s (without the use of really creative math).

What do you think of Tsunoda’s words? Will Kinect have a more successful launch than the iPad? Or am I right to yell, “That’s crazy!!!” at Kudo’s quote?

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What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Originally, I thought this was going to be another weekend of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, but a funny thing happened on the way to Friday — another Square Enix RPG! I’m not going to say what it is now, but you’ll be able to figure it out from this article’s images. For the most part, I’m really enjoying it, but there are portions that piss me off. Some of it so 1993: you’ll encounter a boss, but won’t be powerful enough to defeat it, so you have to run around like a dick for an hour to level up or search for a weapon that makes things easier. While JRPG veterans are used to this kind of thing, I don’t think it will fly with younger gamers.

Anyway, let me know what’s on your weekend playlist when you have a moment.

Sacha Baron Cohen to Play Freddie Mercury in Queen Movie

Here’s a bit of completely awesome news — Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat) has been signed to play Freddie Mercury in an upcoming Queen movie. I’m a huge Queen fan (Brian May rules!) and I really enjoy Sacha Baron Cohen. While Mercury’s voice is impossible to replicate, Cohen — more than anyone else I can think of — has the goods to portray the Queen frontman’s unique charm. Seriously, can you think of anyone else that can be fierce, forceful, and a little effeminate at the same time? Here’s a clip from E!:

In what could be one of the more inspired castings we’ve heard about in quite some time, Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to star as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in a movie about the legendary rock band.

The pic, which will be scripted by Frost/Nixon and The Queen writer Peter Morgan, will follow the band from its early years to its performance at Live Aid in 1985, six years before Mercury died from AIDS complications at age 45.

What do you think of Ali G playing Freddie Mercury? Will it work? Or will it fall flat on its face?

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The Fighter Trailer, Starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale

I can’t wait to see The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg (“Feel the vibrations!”) and Christian Bale (“You and me, we’re done professionally!”). The movie is a dramatized biography of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward. He’s best known for his scintillating trilogy against the late Arturo “Thunder” Gatti and his brutal fight against Emmanuel Augustus. While Ward was hardly a skilled ring technician, fans adored him for his heart, guts, and cast iron chin. Before he made decent money in the Gatti fights, boxings fans — especially in Massachusetts — loved that he worked as a road paver between fights.

Check out the trailer above and let me know what you think (please)! Also, Amy Adams is really hot (but not in this movie).

New Analog Stick for Sony PlayStation Portable

Kotaku has posted pictures of an upcoming Monster Hunter Portable 3rd limited edition PSP that sports a redesigned analog stick. The new stick appears to be concave for her pleasure added comfort. It also comes with an extended battery, which is perfect for all those Japanese Monster Hunter addicts that sit in large rooms with dozens of other gamers and play the game for hours (I’ve seen this. It’s…weird).

The Monster Hunter Portable 3rd PSP will be available in Japan on December 1, 2010.

What do you think of the new analog stick? Would you get a new PSP because of it? I’ve been struggling to understand the Monster Hunter phenomenon in Japan for years. Do you get it? If so, kindly explain it to me.

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Today’s Poll: Will MS Sell 3-Million Kinect Units This Holiday?

In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Microsoft product director Aaron Greenburg said that the company expects to sell around three-million units of Kinect for Xbox 360 this holiday season. This is inline with Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter’s (incredibly broad) prediction. Here’s a passage from the excellent Gamasutra article:

“Our estimates that we will sell in excess of 3 million units this holiday,” The company is spending “hundreds of millions” of dollars in marketing, “exceeding in what we did when we launched the original Xbox 360,” says Greenberg.

What do you think? Is Microsoft being overly optimistic? Or will it sell that many Kinect units? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss.

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Coffee Talk #215: Who Are Your Favorite Internet Writers?

Let’s be real — this can’t possibly be the only web site you visit on a daily basis. Don’t worry, I don’t get (too) jealous when you spend time reading other sites. Having said that, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite Internet writers. Whether it’s games, sports, tech, or whatever, let me know who some of your favorite scribes are. Here are some of mine:

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, J.Lo as an American Idol judge, WWE banning Soma (even with a prescription), or Britney Spears’ engagement rumors, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Let’s be real — this can’t possibly be the only web site you visit on a daily basis. Don’t worry, I don’t get (too) jealous when you spend time reading other sites. Having said that, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite Internet writers. Whether it’s games, sports, tech, or whatever, let me know who some of your favorite ‘net scribblers are. Here are some of mine:

  • Games: Christian Nutt (Gamasutra), Chris Kohler (Wired), Brian Leahy (Shacknews), and Dean Takahashi (VentureBeat) [Full disclosure: Kohler and I do a stunning karaoke duet of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, Christian and I used to be roommates, and Leahy…well, most of you know.]
  • Tech: Om Malik (GigaOm), James Kendrick (JKonTheRun), MG Siegler (TechCrunch), and Fake Steve Jobs (FakeSteveJobs)
  • Sports: Bill Simmons (ESPN) and Doug Fischer (The Ring)

Now it’s your turn! Who are some of your favorite Internet writers?

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus in HD…and 3D!

At Tokyo Game Show 2010, Sony announced that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus will be hitting the PlayStation 3 on one Blu-ray disc that’s full of HD and 3D goodness.(Check out the trailer above!) I loved Ico and really liked Shadow of the Colossos on the PlayStation 2; I’m thrilled that they’ll be available in high definition, but I don’t care to play them in 3D (yet).

What do you guys and gals think of this collection? Are you interested in playing it in 3D?