Midway was once such a sacred name in gaming. New Midway titles were actually anticipated by young gamers such as myself. They made a name for themselves with franchises like Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, as well as their solid presence in arcades across the nation. Many of their games are still classics today and I can personally say I own at least a dozen Midway titles scattered across a number of systems.

Well, I’m not a young gamer anymore and it would now appear that the bubble has burst for Midway too, as CEO David Zucker is leaving his post following a $97.4 million loss which was recently reported by the company. In his stead, Matthew Booty (Arrrrggh!) will take over for at least a short time. Booty has been a pirate working with Midway since 1991 as senior VP, Worldwide Studios.

The door has barely slammed behind Zucker and his crucifixion has already begun. Chairman Shari Redstone makes it clear that Zucker just wasn’t the man for the job, “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 video game industry.”

I think I could do a pretty good job directing the company’s efforts with just one sentence: Make Hydro Thunder 2, please. There you go, I’ll accept my multi-million dollar fee in cash, check, or you can just deliver four Cruisin’ USA arcade units to my apartment and we’ll call it even.