Today, Variety reported that EA has contracted Zack Snyder, creator of the the 300 movie, for three new IPs in upcoming games. Under the agreement Electronic Arts will hold all rights to the intellectual property, but Zack Snyder’s studio, Cruel & Unusual Films, will have the exclusive rights to any movies that arise from the IP, if warranted.

This comes from Electronic Arts, who is looking to expand their IP and to appeal more to their core consituency (youg males), in which case Zack Snyder would be the perfect match. In addition to directing “300,” Snyder also has the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead and the upcoming Watchmen (March 2009) under his belt.

Hilarious Nintendo Wii Tennis Spooft

In a recent interview with Edge-Online, Activision CEO Mike Griffith claimed Activision is looking to “monetize” Call of Duty’s online and multiplayer features to the fullest extent. “Over time, we’ll qualify more opportunities to increase the monetization of these activities,” said Griffith.

Activision has seen the potential on Call of Duty’s online features, citing that “The average Call of Duty player has spent nearly five full 24-hour days of their lives online since purchasing the game.” Griffith also said downloadable content would be a bigger priority in Call of Duty: World at War, having over 3 times the content, something he labeled as the “Day One Advantage.” Upon further questioning, Griffith said this “Day One Advantage” would allow players to earn experience points faster, giving them a clear advantage over those who weren’t willing to purchase the content.

Continuing to engage consumers online with Call of Duty [4] is a large part of the reason you still see the title selling for $59.99 in stores and the absence of any used games in the market for Call of Duty

Whether you believe this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your optimism, or lack thereof. We will definitely be getting more downloadable content, but at what price is unknown. If what Mike Griffith says is true, we could see people paying as much as the game itself just for downloadable content in the long-run.

Activision has just released the full track list for Guitar Hero 4. It includes 86 built in tracks, plus another 16 downloadable songs. It’s main competitor, Rock Band 2, has about 84 songs built in.

1. 311 - “Beautiful Disaster”
2. 30 Seconds To Mars - “The Kill”
3. Airbourne - “Too Much Too Young”
4. The Allman Brothers Band - “Ramblin’ Man”
5. Anouk - “Good God”
6. The Answer - “Never Too Late”
7. At The Drive-In - “One Armed Scissor”
8. Beastie Boys - “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
9. Beatsteaks - “Hail to the Freaks”
10. Billy Idol - “Rebel Yell”
11. Black Label Society - “Stillborn”
12. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - “Weapon of Choice”
13. blink-182 - “Dammit”
14. Blondie - “One Way or Another”
15. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Hollywood Nights”
16. Bon Jovi - “Livin’ On A Prayer”
17. Bullet For My Valentine - “Scream Aim Fire”
18. Coldplay - “Shiver”
19. Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Up Around The Bend”
20. The Cult - “Love Removal Machine”
21. Dinosaur Jr. - “Feel The Pain”
22. The Doors - “Love Me Two Times”
23. Dream Theater - “Pull Me Under”
24. The Eagles - “Hotel California”
25. The Enemy - “Aggro”
26. Filter - “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
27. Fleetwood Mac - “Go Your Own Way”
28. Foo Fighters - “Everlong”
29. The Guess Who - “American Woman”
30. Hush Puppies - “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!”
31. Interpol - “Obstacle 1?
32. Jane’s Addiction - “Mountain Song”
33. Jimi Hendrix - “Purple Haze (Live)”
34. Jimi Hendrix - “The Wind Cries Mary”
35. Jimmy Eat World - “The Middle”
36. Joe Satriani - “Satch Boogie”
37. Kent - “Vinternoll2?
38. Korn - “Freak On A Leash”
39. Lacuna Coil - “Our Truth”
40. Lenny Kravitz - “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
41. Linkin Park - “What I’ve Done”
42. The Living End - “Prisoner of Society”
43. Los Lobos - “La Bamba”
44. Lost Prophets - “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”
45. Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”
46. Mars Volta - “L’Via L’Viaquez”
47. MC5’s Wayne Kramer - “Kick Out The Jams”
48. Metallica - “Trapped Under Ice”
49. Michael Jackson - “Beat It”
50. Modest Mouse - “Float On”
51. Motorhead - “Overkill”
52. Muse - “Assassin”
53. Negramaro - “Nuvole e Lenzuola”
54. Nirvana - “About a Girl (Unplugged)”
55. No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”
56. NOFX - “Soul Doubt”
57. Oasis - “Some Might Say”
58. Ozzy Osbourne - “Crazy Train”
59. Ozzy Osbourne - “Mr. Crowley”
60. Paramore - “Misery Business”
61. Pat Benatar - “Heartbreaker”
62. R.E.M. - “The One I Love”
63. Radio Futura - “Escuela De Calor”
64. Rise Against - “Re-Education Through Labor”
65. Sex Pistols - “Pretty Vacant”
66. Silversun Pickups - “Lazy Eye”
67. Smashing Pumpkins - “Today”
68. Steely Dan - “Do It Again”
69. Steve Miller Band - “The Joker”
70. Sting - “Demolition Man (Live)”
71. The Stone Roses - “Love Spreads”
72. Stuck In The Sound - “Toy Boy”
73. Sublime - “Santeria”
74. Survivor - “Eye of the Tiger”
75. System of a Down - “B.Y.O.B.”
76. Ted Nugent - “Stranglehold”
77. Ted Nugent’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
78. Tokio Hotel - “Monsoon”
79. Tool - “Parabola”
80. Tool - “Schism”
81. Tool - “Vicarious”
82. Trust - “Antisocial”
83. Van Halen - “Hot For Teacher”
84. Willie Nelson - “On The Road Again”
85. Wings - “Band on the Run”
86. Zakk Wylde’s Original Guitar Duel Recording

Downloadable content list:
1. Metallica - “That Was Just Your Life”
2. Metallica - “The End of the Line”
3. Metallica - “Broken, Beat & Scarred”
4. Metallica - “The Day That Never Comes”
5. Metallica - “All Nightmare Long”
6. Metallica - “Cyanide”
7. Metallica - “The Unforgiven III”
8. Metallica - “The Judas Kiss”
9. Metallica - “Suicide & Redemption”
10. Metallica - “My Apocalypse”
11. R.E.M - “Horse to Water”
12. R.E.M - “Man-Sized Wreath”
13. R.E.M - “Supernatural Superserious”
14. Smashing Pumpkins - “G.L.O.W.”
15. Smashing Pumpkins - “1979?
16. Smashing Pumpkins - “The Everlasting Gaze”

Today NPD released their market data for the month of August. The Wii came in first, no surprise there. Microsoft managed to beat Sony by almost 10,000 units. The biggest software seller of the month was Madden, which took up the #1, 2, and 3 spots for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, respectively.

Hardware Unit Sales

* PlayStation 3 - 185.4K
* PSP - 253.0K
* PS2 - 144.1K
* 360 - 195.2K
* Wii - 453.0K
* Nintendo DS - 518.3K

Software

1. Madden NFL 09 (360, EA)
2. Madden NFL 09 (PS3, EA)
3. Madden NFL 09 (PS2, EA)
4. Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo)
5. Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo)
6. Wii Play (Wii, Nintendo)
7. Soulcalibur IV (360, Namco)
8. Too Human (360, Microsoft)
9. Madden NFL 09 (Wii, EA)
10. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS, Activision Blizzard)

Dollar Sales Aug-07 Aug-08 CHG YTD Aug 07 YTD Aug 08 CHG
Video Games $994.76M $1.08M 9% $8.02B $10.55B 32%
Video Games Hardware $384.59M $394.53M 3% $3.11B $3.73B 20%
Video Games Software $489.06M $550.67M 13% $3.80B $5.45B 43%
Video Game Accessories $121.11M $137.33M 13% $1.11B $1.38B 24%

Via videogaming247

Here’s an interesting contraption someone managed to work up utilizing the Wii Fit Balance board in conjunction with Google Street View. The project is open source and powered by Java. You can view and contribute to the source code over at Google Code. With some work, this could have some potential:

Today, Game On Nintendo reported that the Wii Speak peripheral for the Wii will be bundled with Animal Crossing: City Folk. The news comes from an supposed insider at the GameStop Manager Conference in Las Vegas. The pack will be available for a limited time starting in November. The bundle will set you back approximately $69.99 according to this source.

While this rumor is sudden, it could be legitimate. It may be the first games in Nintendo’s line-up to fend off Microsoft’s increased interest in the casual gaming market. Expect the Holiday 2008 Season to be one of the fiercest battles so far in this console generation. Microsoft will be attempting to take Nintendo down a notch, while Sony is gaining momentum, slowly creeping up on Microsoft. No one will be safe.

Update: This is no longer a rumor, other sources, including Destructoid have also affirmed this claim.