ESRB: Eidos runs Gauntlet on DS
Ratings board lists new version of Midway's arcade dungeon crawler with Tomb Raider maker attached as publisher.
By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot
Posted Feb 15, 2008 4:52 pm PT
The Midway Games name is closely associated with a number of classic arcade franchises, such as Spy Hunter, Rampage, Defender, Joust, and Mortal Kombat. But perhaps none is more closely associated with the publisher than the four-player dungeon-crawling action game Gauntlet.

That made it all the more interesting earlier this week when the Entertainment Software Rating Board updated its online database with a listing for a new Gauntlet game on the Nintendo DS, one published by UK-based Eidos. Rated T for Teen, Eidos' Gauntlet was issued content descriptors for blood, fantasy violence, and alcohol references, a combination of warnings more in line with an update to the series along the lines of the Gauntlet Legends or Seven Sorrows games than the arcade originals (remakes of which have been rated E for Everyone).

When asked for comment, a Midway representative told GameSpot, "There is nothing that we can comment on at this time." Representatives from Eidos have not responded to GameSpot's inquiries. The ESRB has also removed the game from its online database, although a representative had not clarified the reasons for the removal as of press time.

If the listing proves accurate, it would not be the first time another publisher has handled Midway's seminal arcade action series. Atari published home versions of Gauntlet Legends, Microsoft and Sony handled the publishing on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network downloads in the series, and Destination Software released a Game Boy Advance combo cartridge that paired the original arcade game with another fondly remembered Midway franchise, Rampart.

HD DVD dropped by Wal-Mart, Toshiba?
Megaretailer goes Blu-ray-exclusive as competing format's creator is reportedly ready to throw in the towel.
By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot
Posted Feb 15, 2008 12:09 pm PT
It's been a rough year for Toshiba's HD DVD format. After spending 2006 and 2007 locked in a heated battle with the Sony-backed Blu-ray for high-definition, high-capacity disc format dominance, HD DVD has suffered a series of devastating setbacks in the first two months of the year.

Warner Bros. kicked 2008 off by going Blu-ray exclusive in the first week of January. An apparently panicked HD DVD camp canceled its Consumer Electronics Show conference in response, and reports quickly surfaced that HD DVD holdouts Paramount and Universal were looking to switch to Blu-ray.

Bad news for HD DVD fans is continuing to snowball this week, as Best Buy and movie rental service Netflix both said they would back the Sony-supported format going forward. (Best Buy will still stock HD DVD, but its salespeople will advise prospective customers to go Blu-ray).

Two more big names came up as abandoning HD DVD today. This morning the official Wal-Mart blog confirmed that the massive retail chain is going Blu-ray exclusive by June, and the Hollywood Reporter is citing "reliable industry sources" for the news that Toshiba itself is ready to drop its own format.

A Toshiba representative denied the news to the film-focused trade newspaper, but left plenty of room for people to infer there is some truth to the report.

"Given the market developments in the past month," the rep is quoted as saying, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."

A source "close to the HD-DVD camp" told the paper that an announcement could be made in a matter of weeks, but that it is definitely coming soon.