Electronic Arts hasn't always been viewed as a publisher that puts out the greatest licensed games. Its CEO, however, took exception to that. John Riccitiello says their titles are innovative and Metacritic may just be inaccurate in some instances. More after the jump.

EA's casual gaming division is poised to deliver an amped up version of the timeless board game Monopoly to the gaming world. They'll be releasing it this Fall and development is in full swing. We've got details in the full article up next.

It should be remembered that Hasbro and EA have entered into a deal last year that will allow the two to share IPs and transform them into toys and video game titles.

After months of guessing, the two companies have finally announced their first few projects. To know the complete details, click the "read more" link below to proceed to the full article.

Back in August 2007, Electronic Arts and Hasbro signed a deal that  would allow them to share intellectual properties. Because of the deal, IPs from either group could potentially be turned into video game titles or toys, respectively.

After the agreement, we've just learned that Hasbro has acquired board maker Cranium. Given this development, it may not be long before we see Hullabaloo and Zooreka in video game form. More details after the jump!

Electronic Arts and Hasbro Inc. have announced that they're joining forces in a strategic partnership which will allow the two companies to share intellectual properties for use in the video game and toy business.

"The gaming market has never been more primed for a revolution in how families enjoy games," comments EA Casual President Cathy Vrabeck. "Hasbro is the ideal partner to help propel this change. Their games define fun."

Under the agreement, EA may develop video game versions of Hasbro games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Nerf, Tonka and Littlest Pet Shop. In turn, Hasbro can manufacture toys from EA game titles.

"These are games that we all love and remember from our childhoods," adds Vrabeck. "The combination of EA's market leadership in the interactive space and Hasbro's timeless franchises is a perfect partnership for today's market."

The first games from the Hasbro-EA partnership are set to come out in 2008 across handheld, PC, console and mobile platforms. Details on the toys and other merchandise are to be announced soon.

In an interview with Game Daily, Activision's Daniel Suarez, executive producer of Transformers: The Game (for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, PSP, Wii), gave some details as to what people could expect from another movie to game adaptation, especially from one movie that is anticipated to be a big hit come July.

However skeptical many gamers may be of another Activision movie-licensed game, Suarez reassured gamers and fans of the franchise that Hollywood now understands how the game development process works and no longer just sees a game as another licensed consumer product to bring in the big bucks.

Having worked at both Vivendi and Disney Interactive, Suarez believes he has seen Tinsel Town's perspective of the video game change for the better. He added:

Video games are no longer considered another licensed consumer product like a coffee cup or beach towel like they were about 10 years ago. Film makers, studio executives and nearly everyone involved in the production, marketing and promotion of a film are now gamers or have kids who are gamers.

So in essence, the movie makers would love their children to enjoy the fruits of their movie work, especially over video games. Often trying to meet at a point beneficial to both the movie and the game, the game developers and the movie producers closely collaborate to meet the objectives of the developers in making a perceptively great game - hopefully just as great as the movie.

Technology especially helped Hasbro, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount, and Bay Films share assets in the film and integrate them as authentically as possible in the game. In fact, Activision already made efforts to bring G1 into the modern mix, after announcing the sign up of the original voice cast of the animated series for Transformers: The Game.

But if Spider-Man 3: The Game was any indication opposing Suarez's opinion, well, we won't be surprised if the game isn't more than what the eye already sees.

 

There's a new interview about the Transformers game, courtesy of Superhero Hype, and they've got the goods on the games' features, confirming some of the earlier information we had regarding the game and adding some new info on top as well.

For the most part, one of the new bits of information we've heard is that this game will start off with nine playable Transformers, which are probably the staples from the movie. You can unlock a host of other characters through play, and though we've mentioned a maximum of 20 characters previously, there may be more or less depending on what their production team manages to cook up. These characters are all supposed to have their own individual movesets, so don't expect Bumblebee to play like Megatron, because Bumblebee certainly doesn't have the same brawling capabilities of the leader-type bots.

More importantly, they also note additional details  on the questing system set up for Activision and Hasbro's new baby. Daniel Suarez, Activision's executive producer, notes that there'll be two different storylines depending on the type of bot you bring to battle:

If the player decides to be the good guy, then their adventure will focus on the key plot points of the film where they come to Earth and are pitted against the Decepticons.

On the flipside, if the player decides to be evil and picks the Decepticons, the game story is uniquely different and answers the question, "What if the Decepticons win?" All the events in the Decepticons campaign never occur in the film and were created specifically for the game.

All in all, there's no reason to complain. Any game that lets you play a maniacal Decepticon hell-bent on blowing things up and ruling mankind deserves a healthy vote of confidence from gamers. Oh, and there's Megatron too.

 

If you were a kid during the 80s, chances are you've tried yelling ala Optimus Prime "Autobots, transform and roll out!" [insert morphing sound here]. The original cartoon series has such a huge following that modern-day producers have now ventured into making a movie and a game based from the series' mecha lore.

Straight from Seibertron, we now have news of more game details for Transformers: The Game. Them lucky folks from the said site managed to catch a glimpse of the game via Hasbro preview at ToyFair and they've noted some very interesting details. Please do remember that this list was made by Seibertron (told you we got it straight from them) and thus should not be taken as official.

• There will be an Autobot Game and a Decepticon Game for Nintendo DS, supporting 4 way multi-play.
• The PSP will a version of the game (maybe different from all), but with 4 way Multi-Play.
• Wii will get special Wiimote functions, such as throwing things, steering, etc.
• You can play as 9 Autobots and Decepticons. Unplayable characters are going to be boss characters or other important characters.
• There will be unlockable characters and possibly movie characters that don't appear in the movie (like Wreckage).
• There will be G1 references in the game.
• It has a full interactive environment where you can pick things up and throw it at the enemy...including a Burger King sign.
• Burger King and Pepsi references were in the game, so we know they are sponsors.
• As the robot you can punch, shoot, jump, transform at will and drive/fly around when you are in vehicle mode.
• Autotargeting will be available.
• For game play, it reminded me of Grand Theft Auto, where you can run around the city (perspective was similar to GTA). The steering of the vehicle looked well done, where you could oversteer around turns, etc. If you caused too much ruckus the police would come and the pedestrians would go around screaming, especially if you were in Robot Mode (so being in disguise is important). Pedestrian interaction was not completed yet, but we were hoping you could pick up people and thrown them.
  
• Storyline is different based upon if you are an Autobot or a Decepticon, humans are part of the story, but not part of the gameplay. Because of the dual roles the Decepticons can win in this one.

This Activision-published title for the PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, and NDS is set to land/dock/park on retail stores sometime during the third quarter of this year. We just can't wait to see Optimus, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Starscream, Megatron, the Insecticons, the Dinobots...ok, geek mode off.