The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

DC vs. Mortal Kombat... where's DC vs. Marvel??

Of all the news, such as it was, coming out of Midway's "gamer day" (when the videogame press gets shown all the stuff that the publisher wants to feed to the media in one fell swoop so that everybody writes big stories at the same time), I was most surprised and excited by "Mortal Kombat vs. DC." Superman, Batman, Scorpion, Subzero, and (we can assume) all the other favorites kicking each others' asses sounds cool, even if there won't be fatalities.

This is, of course, Mortal Kombat's answer to Marvel. vs. Capcom, where Spider-Man and Captain America et al took on the "Street Figher" crew. But as a long-time comic book geek, these games make me more wistful than excited. Sure, seeing Batman try to take down Subzero could be cool. But what I REALLY want to see is Superman vs. the Hulk. Or Batman vs. Spider-Man. And so on and so on.

Fanboys have engaged in innumerable arguments about who which superhero characters would win in a fight. I am pretty sure that nobody has ever had a serious discussion about whether Batman could kick Scorpion's ass. Nobody really cares. Can anyone honestly tell me that a "DC vs. Marvel" fighting game wouldn't be millions of fanboys' wet dream and a guaranteed best seller?

Both comic publishers have various video game deals worked out that might make such a combination difficult, of course. But there have been several DC vs. Marvel comic books, so I've got to believe that with enough time and effort, they could make it happen. And I'm sure any sane videogame publisher would bid millions for the honor of putting out that surefire hit.

So, enjoy this teaser trailer for "DC vs. MK." But if you're like me, you'll watch it and wish for the ultimate super-hero game that needs to happen.

Midway CEO David Zucker canned after Sumner Redstone stacks up huge losses

This one isn't exactly a surprise to those following Midway lately: CEO David Zucker was shown the door today after years of big losses and no revenue growth. (Read the whole story here.)

Sumner Redstone, who owns 87% of Midway, can't be happy with the returns he has seen since buying the company in 2004. His daughter Shari, who took over as chairman late last year in a little noticed corporate coup, didn't mince words in a statement announcing Zucker's departure. None of that "David has done a great job but has achieved his goals and wants to spend more time with his family" claptrap we usually get when someone gets fired. As far as press releases go, this is pretty much as harsh as statements go in my experience:

"Dynamic new leadership is needed to bring Midway to its full potential,” said Shari Redstone, Chair of the Board. “I believe that Midway has the resources and creative capability to once again be competitive with the best in the videogame business. The Board is confident that a new CEO will be selected who can fully utilize the opportunities presented by this next-generation console cycle to renew Midway’s position as a major player in the videogame industry.”

Here are some rough stats I calculated that show just how badly Midway has done for Redstone since he acquired it:

-Midway's net losses since 2004: about $300 million

-Revenue growth from 2004 through 2007: -3%

-Increase in net loss from 2004 through 2007: +399%

-Change in Midway stock value from the day Redstone took over through today: -79%

-Loss in equity value for Sumner Redstone: Over $500 million (this is a very conservative estimate given that Redstone's exact stock ownership has fluctuated over the years)

While the company has done OK with franchises like "Mortal Kombat" and "NBA Ballers," it has been plagued by delays and seen some significant disappointments, most recently "John Woo Presents Stranglehold" and "Unreal Tournament III."

Probably not what Sumner Redstone had in mind when he took control of Midway in April 2004 and said "Midway is clearly a second-tier producer, but it has the potential to be in the first tier, and that's what attracted me to the company. You're going to see an enormous infusion of talent in the very near future."

I should note, by the way, that in all my interviews with him, Zucker always seemed like a smart guy. I would suspect he has an interesting story to tell about what went wrong at Midway, though who knows if we'll ever heard it.

While Midway's board (basically, Sumner and Shari and those they approve of) search for a new CEO, the company has appointed senior VP of worldwide studios Matt Booty as interim CEO. Wondering about his gamer credentials? The photo on the right is the one he uses for his corporate bio on the Midway website.

Something's up at Midway

Or maybe not. But it's pretty odd that Midway rescheduled its earnings report today... the same day it was supposed to report earnings. In fact, the re-sked happened at 6:40 PM, several hours after Midway had said it would release its financial performance for the crucial fourth quarter, aka the holidays.

Now it's possible that there was just a last minute screw-up and nothing more. But I'm a little suspicious, since in my several years of covering earnings for dozens of different public companies, I've never seen one just not report on the day they were supposed to and then announce, at 6:40 PM, that it's coming in three days. Which leads me to think that perhaps Midway's dealing with some really bad numbers from the holidays. Or maybe there's some big deal it wants to includew with its earnings report it's just concluding right now.

Whatever the reason, we'll find out on Thursday.

THQ, Midway, Atari stocks surge on EA's bid for Take-Two

Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that EA's bid for Take-Two signifies a period of consolidation coming to the videogame business. Take a look at the performance of several small and mid-sized publishers' stocks Monday, none of whom had any news of their own:

THQ: Up 10% to $9.65

Midway: Up 7% to $2.19

Atari: Up 13% to $1.61

Anybody want to take bets on how many of those companies, along with some European publishers like Eidos and maybe even Ubisoft, will still be independent a year from now?