Large-scale layoffs have been hitting everywhere in the past year, and Electronic Arts is now no different: according to Gamasutra, the game publisher announced today that it will lay off 1,500 workers by April 2010, after posting a year-to-year decrease in revenue and a net loss of $391 million.

About 1,300 of the freshly unemployed individuals will result from the full closure of some of EA's facilities. This will cost EA money at the outset, but they estimate that by dropping the facilities they stand to save about $100 million annually. According to EA CEO John Riccitello, the cuts are happening in "targeted areas," so the company can focus up on its bigger, more lucrative games.

EA has kept up well with the iPhone platform and has released some of its most popular titles to the App Store, such as The Sims 3, Rock Band, and Spore. Consumers still pay a premium price for them, however. For example, Rock Band costs $9.99 and comes with only 20 songs, and charges 50 cents for each additional song. Still, Rock Band ended up selling well, so maybe we'll be seeing more of EA in the App Store in the coming fiscal quarters.

EA also announced today its acquisition of Playfish, whose primary business is Facebook games, for $300 million. Hopefully out of the layoff ashes rises some brutally addictive social-based game for the iPhone.

Disgruntled TUAW commenters, I'll save you some time: "OMG Mike of course a game powered by EA and one of the most popular franchises of all time is a hit. Try reporting some real news!" But not so fast -- Rock Band, which hit the App Store top 10 and conquered the Top Grossing list just days after its release this week, is actually a more unlikely hit than you think. For one thing, it sold at a price of $9.99 only -- no free versions, no trials, no pricing sales or schemes that have become the rule rather than the exception on the App Store lately. And for another thing, it had a comparable competitor in Tap Tap Revenge 3, selling for just 99 cents. TTR3 is a hit as well -- it's topping the list of paid apps that Rock Band is on -- but many people figured consumers would pass on the $10 app for the 99 cent one, and many people were wrong.

In short, even though, yes, Rock Band has EA's power behind it and it's based on an already popular game, it actually has bucked what we've seen so far: prices racing to the bottom, and tough chances of making a hit game, much less a profitable one, at the $9.99 price point. We don't yet know whether the game is profitable (or how either Rock Band's or TTR3's microtransaction models will do in the future), as it's just too soon.

But Rock Band is already seen as a game that stands as a shining example of what many were thinking wasn't true: big publishers with big name titles can put out big games at (relatively -- $10 is still cheap when you're talking about Rock Band at large) high price points and see them sell.

The good news is that EA has released Rock Band for the iPhone and iPod touch, and you can pick it up from the App Store right now. The bad news is that it seems like a pretty tough sell -- despite the relatively high price tag (Tap Tap Revenge 3, a similar music game, is currently 99 cents and headed for free), there's not much new here.

Sure, there is four-device Bluetooth multiplayer, and that's something that Tapulous' game has never had. But other than that, it seems like this is basically EA's cash in on the tapping concept -- the draw of Rock Band has been getting together with your friends and jamming out the hits on those fake instruments, and touching a button-less screen by yourself doesn't have the same effect. Singing is included, but you're still just tapping out notes for that -- it seems like they missed a lot of potential fun there. And even some of the fun things from the console version like the drum fills for overdrive and the character avatars are missing here.

If you don't like the 20 songs included with the game, you can download others at 50 cents (in two-song packs for a buck each), but most people probably shouldn't even bother at that price -- just stick with Tapulous' game unless you really love Rock Band and its aesthetics (even then, I haven't seen my much-beloved Harmonix mentioned anywhere with this port, so I doubt they're even involved. Update: They are listed on the game's splash screen, however, according to our readers).

Even if you want to try this one, wait for the inevitable price drop -- if the game really lived up to its name as the premiere music experience you'll find on the consoles, it might be worth it, but all indications are, unfortunately, that it doesn't.

What's it going to take for us to get developers to release games for Apple products earlier than two years after the fact? The iPhone, apparently -- EA has announced that their soccer flagship FIFA 10 will be available for the iPhone this Friday, which is the same day the console game shows up in stores as well. The game will have everything the full versions have, including real teams and leagues, a licensed soundtrack, and all of the usual soccer standbys. One thing missing: online multiplayer, though local wifi multiplayer will be available.

Sounds good to us, especially if you're a fan of the sport all those crazy Europeans call football. The app should be $9.99, befitting of a premium EA sports app, though there will probably be a sale on it sooner or later. Now, about that actual Mac version...

More good news for MMO players on the Mac: Warhammer Online has joined the ranks of EVE and of course World of Warcraft by announcing the release of a Mac-compatible client. Most of you already interested were probably playing with Boot Camp, but that hasn't stopped Mythic from working on a Mac client. It's in beta now (and free to current players, with a free trial available for those who haven't stepped inside the MMO yet), and they're aiming for a release in the Fall. And how nice is this: Mac players will get two titles of their own, as well as an exclusive in-game trophy.

Unfortunately, the client doesn't run truly natively -- Mythic is owned by EA, so, you guessed it, Transgaming's Cider is behind this port, too. Cider isn't always the best way to run games (native would be the way we'd like to see it), but many of the problems we've seen with the technology are a few years old now, so hopefully it's gotten better (and that's likely what this beta is all about) -- hopefully they can work out all the kinks before the official release in the Fall.

Warhammer Online is an excellent MMO, especially notable for its heavy PvP elements and its innovative Public Quests and Tome of Knowledge feature (kind of like achivements, but even more in-depth). It's a little late coming to our platform, but it's good to finally see another big game take on Mac support.

Two big gaming companies have made stark moves towards some major iPhone development in the future. Electronic Arts has made what seems to be the strongest move: they've put together a division in the company specifically for making iPhone games, and not just any games. Specifically, the kind that cost 99 cents.

8lb Gorilla is the name of the group they've put together in-house, and apparently it's a bunch of young developers given the task of putting together quick and cheap games about once a month that can sell for 99 cents, keep customers happy, and still bring in a profit for EA. The first title out of the group is a game called Zombies and Me, which appears to be an action game where you blow up zombies with explosives. Who wouldn't pay 99 cents for that one, right?

Namco is also making moves toward the platform, though not that specific (or risky, though EA's gambit could pay off big if the young devs turn out a hit). They've created an "Apple Games" division within their company, designed to make games specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch, and presumably for any other platforms that Apple decides to release games on. We hear the Mac is pretty popular -- does "Apple Games" include those other computers they make? Yet another Pac Man remake is the first title from them, but hopefully more original releases are coming.

Very interesting to see major companies start setting aside resources specifically to target the App Store's unique market. Mac gamers have been fighting for years to get devs to pay attention to their platform, and now it looks like Apple's handheld devices, along with the relatively easy money of the App Store, have finally done it.

The Sims 3 pretty faithfully recreates the Sims experience on Apple's handhelds, albeit in a more streamlined version. While the handheld port avoids a lot of the new complexity of the latest PC release, the core Sims experience is still here -- you can create a Sim, give it a personality and a house, and then help your little avatar live its life, from going to work to following goals and dreams to completion.

To a relatively new Sims player (I've never been a huge fan of the games), the variety of things to do here is pretty impressive. There's the usual tasks around your house -- eating, cleaning, sleeping, and so on -- but as you play, your Sim comes up with new goals to lust after, and it's your job to make sure those things happen, all while trying to preserve your Sim's health and sanity. For instance, just a minute into playing, my Sim suddenly got it in his head that he wanted to "use someone else's shower" (which seems like an exceedingly creepy goal to have, actually), but instantly I started thinking about all the things I had to do to complete it: go to town, meet someone, get invited to their house, and then somehow find an opportunity to jump in the shower.

I think the whole "Apple buying Twitter" rumor floating around is about as much of a crock as the "Apple buying EA" one. But I give slightly more credence to this conclusion: that, despite the painful experience of Pippin, Apple is once again putting together a game console. Why? Let the evidence from BNET convince you.

First, Apple is picking up game execs and console chip makers left and right. Second is a whole slew of recent patents, for everything from mixing up media and game environments to management of games acquired from a media server. And third, though BNET doesn't actually connect the dots and say it, we will: Apple is sitting on what might be the best library of independent games anywhere, and it's sitting right in front of us in iTunes' App Store.

For years, console makers have depended on the mercy of publishers to keep their hardware going -- they sell the hardware at a loss, and then rely on the software sales and licensing to make it all back up again. But think of what Apple could do here: improve the AppleTV or Mac Mini, throw in some kind of Wii-like interface, and then break the whole thing open in the same way they did with the App Store: let developers in with a really low cost of entry, give them the tools they need to create solid games, and just take a nice cut from all of the tiny transactions flowing back and forth.

BNET claims that the iPhone's interface wouldn't work on a larger console, but why not? All Apple has to do is figure out a way to translate the iPhone's gestures and taps into a console system, and then they can practically run the games natively. Sure, the resolution would be a little low with a straight port, but that's a small problem to fix. Apple already has the makings of a game console with the iPod touch, and while the rumors may still just be rumors, there's never been a better time for them to leverage what they've already got.

The Game Developers Conference is on in San Francisco, and game companies are starting to pull out the major announcements on what's coming to the iPhone in the next year. Here's a roundup of all the titles we've heard mentioned already.

• EA announced a huge lineup of ports from their already popular games: everything from Command and Conquer: Red Alert to SSX to FIFA, Madden, and NBA are all coming in some form to the iPhone. They're also working on bringing over the Wolfenstein RPG and Spore Creatures (which was the DS port of Spore), as well as a big list of casual board games (Scrabble is only the beginning), and versions of Need for Speed: Undercover, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. And most amazing? All of these are due out before the end of the year. Someone's lighting a fire under iPhone developers at EA.
  
• id software announced that they're bringing Wolfenstein 3D Classic to the iPhone in an official form -- that one's already been submitted to the store and should be out soon.

Click the link below to read on.

The Sims 3 is the latest iteration of the best-selling computer game in history -- it features the ability to custom-make and create your Sims and their surroundings, and explore the neighborhoods and cities that they live in. But even more strangely, it's set for an almost simultaneous release on PC, Mac, the iPhone and the iPod touch. The popularity of iPhone apps may have done what Mac gamers couldn't do for years: convince developers that releasing their games simultaneously on Mac and PC was worth it. While EA only has a release date for the PC version so far (June 2), the company is saying that Mac, iPhone and the iPod touch versions will be out in "Summer of 2009," which is much better than, say, years later.

Of course, we'll have to believe it when we see it -- EA uses Transgaming for their Mac ports, and they've left a little bit to be desired so far. But just the fact that they plan an almost concurrent release for the sequel to one of the biggest games of all time bodes very well. The Sims 3 probably won't make too many waves in the hardcore PC gaming set, but anytime a major publisher plans a simultaneous release for a big title, we definitely give a nod of approval.

[via IMG]

Spore Origins has wriggled its way out to the iTunes store for the iPod. The game is a slimmed-down version of the early microbial stages in the upcoming PC game -- in the main game, you'll be able to take your little microbes up through the evolutionary ladder all the way up to space travel, but in the iPod game, you just guide a little cellular organism around in the primordial muck, eating what's smaller than you and running away from what's bigger.

We haven't played the iPod version, but the iPhone version, which we got a hands-on with at E3 earlier this year, is due out later this week, according to the game's creator, Will Wright. Both games pale in comparison to the creativity and polish that the full Spore game will offer -- running a creature around in the muck isn't nearly as fun as guiding it through the history of time itself, and unfortunately, as we were told at E3, online play and character transfer never made it into the final version, so the portable games have no relation to the full game at all.

So what you're left with is a little arcade game, which probably isn't actually worth the $5 it costs. There are, after all, better games out there for less.

Update: Tipster Mike writes in to note that the game has disappeared from the store. As of 5:45 pm ET today, it's gone.

iPhone-wielding gamers rejoiced when EA announced a version of Spore for the iPhone, set to debut in September of this year (check out our hands-on with Spore). This week, click wheel iPod owners got a leg up, as Spore: Origins is now available in the iTunes Store [link].

Origins, as the name implies, lets players experience the 1st level of the game, in which you guide a single-cell organism through the primordial ooze. Game play is straight forward: Use the click wheel to guide Jr. around, and the center button to eat other organisms he finds. No word on sharing your progress with the full game once it's released on September 7th.

If you really can't wait, you can also download the desktop Creature Creator. Spore: Origins for iPod costs $4.99US.

Tris Developer Noah Witherspoon has conceded to removing his app from the App Store after pressure from the owner of the copyright for Tetris. Tetris offers its own app for $9.99, while Tris is free.

Macworld reviewed both games, and found the official version, developed by EA, lacking. It takes about 30 seconds to load, and you can't listen to your own music while playing. Tris [app store link] isn't perfect either, rotating pieces the wrong way, and doesn't offer "ghosting": seeing where pieces will land before they drop (which always seemed like cheating to me).

The Tetris Company is well known for aggressively enforcing its copyright on the game. Tetris clone Quinn, for example, goes to great lengths to distance itself from Tetris: it doesn't even mention the word except for a small disclaimer at the bottom of the screen.

Witherspoon understands that The Tetris Company is entitled to enforce its copyrights, but said on his blog "the approach they're taking seems to me little more than bullying." Witherspoon is a student, and admits he lacks the means to pursue the case through the courts.

Witherspoon will pull Tris from the App Store on Wednesday. He wants to offer the app at some point in the future, but is evaluating his options.

[Via MacNN.]