With the recent news that Activision and Vivendi have signed an agreement to merge and form a new mega-publisher by the name of Activision Blizzard, as well as all this recent talk of tech sharing, xboxer takes a look at the type of titles we can expect to see from this newly formed megapublisher.

X-men Legends: Blue Shift

OK, before we start blaming Activision for having a severe attack of sequel-itis, remember that flagship gaming franchise Half Life was intensely mined for expansion pack excuses. A few years after Gordon Freeman's adventures had concluded on PC, it seemed that every side character at Black Mesa had a series of exciting and sexy escapades to their name. With this in mind, xboxer thinks that there's a lot of potential for an x-men spinoff where you play as noted villain Toad, as he embarks on his own mini-adventure which will tie seamlessly into the plot of the original X-men Legends. Sort of. Perhaps.

Will be remembered for: Being the proverbial step too far, featuring one of the least fearsome villains in the Marvel pantheon.

Chronicles of Spider-man

Chronicles of Riddick's sort of like the evil parallel universe twin of the Spider-man series. The Spider-man games take a really popular license with a well-established universe and pump out well-produced but overwhelming mediocre titles with nonsensical plots. The Chronicles of Riddick game takes a film franchise consisting of one great film and one terrible one, and pumps out a dark, original, brilliant and deep game featuring some masterful story telling. Therefore, xboxer proposes a merger of the two series. Spider-man could well do with some of Riddick's meaner, visceral combat sequences. On the other hand, Riddick could do with a few snappy one-liners to lighten up the relentlessly dark mood.

OK. Maybe not.

Will be remembered for: Brutality, snappy one liners

World of Warcraft: Streets of Crime

Sure, World of Warcraft has a deep involving universe, packed with one of the richest, most complete mythos that we've seen this side of Mass Effect. And sure, it's got scope, art direction that's hauntingly beautiful and features that make social interaction with Azeroth and its denizens quick, easy and fun. But I'll tell you what it doesn't have: Christopher Walken narrating it. Or really, really, ropey fight scenes. All the things that World of Warcraft was missing.

Will be remembered for: Having about three one-liners repeated ad nauseum, celebrity cast, awful gameplay

Timeshift of Fortune

Heck, it's how they tried to make the Soldier of Fortune series work. You take a mediocre game, then make it as stomach churningly gory as possible. It worked for both the Soldier of Fortune games- both really forgettable games, made momentarily memorable for being stupidly violent, but remembered after that for being just stupid.

Will be remembered for: Gore, criminal lack of imagination

Transformers: Eragon

Hooray! Two movie franchise games, probably churned out at speed, for two blockbuster Hollywood releases. What could go wrong?

Will be remembered for: Epitomising *so much* of what's wrong with the gaming industry.

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