Saturday, November 28, 2009
Gamer Sues World of Warcraft for Ruining His Life
courtesy of appscoutA California-based gamer is suing World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard for ruining his life.
Erik Estavillo is accusing the publisher of maintaining a "harmful virtual environment" via "sneaky and deceitful practices," according to GameSpot.
Among other things, Estavillo is annoyed by the monthly $14.99 access fee, the speed at which players can move within the game, WoW's player resurrection process, as well as charges Blizzard requires for players to change things about their characters.
The player also claims that he has developed physical and mental ailments as a result of his WoW playing. Estavillo said he does not want to end up like an EverQuest player who committed suicide in 2001 over a sense of alienation brought on by playing games, according to the suit obtained by GameSpot.
This is not the first time Estavillo has sued a gaming company, however. He sued Sony's PlayStation network for a violation of his First Amendment rights after he was banned during a game of Resistance: Fall of Man. A judge dismissed that case in September. He has also sued Microsoft and Nintendo because a broken Xbox caused him undue stress and a Wii blocked access to a third-party program he wanted.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
College Humor "Prank War" (Take a Break and Watch This)
Prank #1 - Audio Prank
Audio Prank! from streeter seidell on Vimeo.
Prank #2 - The Prank War Continues
Prank War Continues... from Amir on Vimeo.
Prank #3 - "Andy Bloom" joins the Prank War
The Prank War Goes On! from streeter seidell on Vimeo.
Prank #4 - Streeter Bombs
Prank War Continued: Streeter Bombs from Amir on Vimeo.
Prank #5 - Amir's Big Break (with Human Giant)
Prank #6 - The Yankee Prankee
Prank #7 - The Basketball Prank
Prank War #8 - The Skydiving Prank
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Activision adding a third Call of Duty studio, hinting at CoD MMO
courtesy of gamepro
According to an L.A. Times article published yesterday, Activision Blizzard has opened a new development studio devoted to the Call of Duy franchise. Though the mysterious new team has not announced any projects yet, an anonymous source within Activision suggests that future Call of Duty titles might include a large-scale persistent multiplayer world.
Serious fans of the series will be familiar with the Call of Duty twin-studio approach, as Infinity Ward (developer of Modern Warfare 2) and Treyarch (the team that built Call of Duty: World at War) take turns developing new titles to ensure that there's a Call of Duty game released every November. The third studio might be assigned to jump into the core game rotation, develop all future tertiary titles (like the mobile port jobs done by outside developers Amaze and n-Space that brought the series to the PSP and DS, respectively) or even to the much-rumored Call of Duty MMO.
The Times cites insider information in their story, but top Activision officials have regularly expressed their eagerness to adopt a subscription-based payment system for future Call of Duty titles. Speaking at a financial conference last week, Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl commented on the possibility of bringing World of Warcraft's business plan to other popular franchises.
"It's definitely an aspiration that we see potential in, particularly as we look at different business models to monetize the online gameplay," said Tippl. "you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchises like Call of Duty."
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
'Modern Warfare 2' Tops Entertainment Industry, Not Just Games
If you think Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has had a major impact on just the video game industry, you may need to adjust your expectations.
According to Activision Blizzard, the game's publisher, Modern Warfare 2 has set records across the entire entertainment industry.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the "biggest entertainment launch in history," Activision said in a statement. In its first five days of availability, the game set a worldwide record with about $550 million in sales, according to internal Activision figures. It's impressive. But more impressive is the list of launches that it beat out.
In the first five days of availability, Modern Warfare 2 has eclipsed the largest worldwide box-office opening, held by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which tallied $394 million over its first five days. It also beat "The Dark Knight," which holds the U.S. box-office record with $203.8 million in first five-day sales.
The game also narrowly trumped Grand Theft Auto IV, which captured $500 million in sales in its first five days of availability.
In other words, Modern Warfare 2 has had a major release.
The game's success also translated to major numbers on Xbox Live. Activision reported that "more than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone." On November 10, 2.2 million unique gamers played on Xbox Live, setting a new one-day record for the online-gaming platform.
Of course, it should be noted that all these figures come from Activision's internal estimates, which might differ from the NPD Group's official totals when it announces November video-game sales.
But until then, Activision can (rightfully so) celebrate Modern Warfare 2's success. And maybe the video-game industry, which has always received second billing to film in the entertainment space, can finally stake its claim to the top spot. Video games are, based on Modern Warfare 2's success, just as viable an entertainment platform as movies.
'Battlefield: Bad Company 2' will (probably) Pwn 'M.A.G.'
From what I understand, if you preorder it you will get access to all the in-game items, but if you don't, then you will have to unlock them ala Modern Warfare 2. (I think). Either way, the first video below shows you the "extras" you get when you pre-order it. The second video is just some random game footage to show off how good the game looks. And the third video is a 13 minute walk through with the PS3 beta (that is currently available, btw). *videos below*
G4tv Gameplay Footage from PS3 Beta
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Guy goes Crazy after Modern Warfare 2 binge
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Microsoft readies five million Natal units for launch
Sources say the innovative gaming controller will be released next November and Microsoft is gearing up to have five million devices ready at launch at a lower than expected price of around $50, along with at least 14 games.
The Natal concept, which uses cameras and microphones to track player movements, was revealed at E3 in Los Angeles earlier in the year.
Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney, EA, Konami, MTV, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ and Ubisoft announced they would be providing Natal-capable games at the Tokyo Game Show in October.
Monday, November 9, 2009
M.A.G. (Massive Action Game) Videos
This is not really worth watching. Would recommend going to the next video.
This is a good video to give you a taste of what the developers were trying to accomplish when the set out to make this game and they talk about which features they considered important as well as show you a ton of gameplay footage.
This video describes the 3 different armies you can choose from when you play the game. What they look like and what their levels look like. I don't know if there will be any difference between the armies in the game other than cosmetics.
This is an awesome video. It shows actual gameplay and how the H.U.D. works while you are playing the game. This is video to watch if you want to get the best glimpse of how the game will look and play, but if you watch the other videos before you watch this one, you will appreciate this video more when you can see the H.U.D. and how the gameplay will actually be.
GameStop breaks Modern Warfare 2 street date in 'select markets,' Activision disapproves
courtesy of GameSpot
As is often the case, the street date of a major game was broken a few days before its official release. Over the weekend, game blog Kotaku received word that several retailers in the Northeast and Midwest United States had begun selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
However, unlike most preemptive sales, which typically happen at non-specialty stores, apparently the game was being sold under a corporate directive by the country's top game-only retailer--GameStop. When contacted by GameSpot on Monday, GameStop's vice president of corporate communicates Chris Olviera offered the following statement:
"This past weekend, GameStop made the decision to sell reserved copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in select markets where other retailers had broken street date. Our decision followed many conversations with Activision and was an effort to protect our customer base. Today we are focusing on the launch of the title in 4,200 of our US locations and the New York City launch celebration that we are co-hosting with Activision [and] Microsoft."
There may be some behind-the-scenes awkwardness at Modern Warfare 2's New York City launch, since Activision apparently ended those conversations by voicing its disapproval. "Activision has not given any retailer permission to sell Modern Warfare 2 prior to the Nov. 10 street date," a spokesperson told GameSpot. "The company fully supports the November 10 street date."
Check back later in the week for GameSpot's full review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The M for Mature-rated game is being released for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, with the latter version also coming bundled with a 250GB limited-edition console from Microsoft. GameSpot's Modern Warfare 2 launch center has more information on the military shooter.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Joss Whedon's latest project just hit Hulu
courtesy of SciFi Wire
The popular graphic novel Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday just launched on Hulu as a motion comic created by legendary comics artist Neal Adams. And what the heck's a motion comic? It's a video based on the artwork from the comic books, using all the original words and drawings, and Marvel is hoping the new form will change the way we read comics.
"At this point in the history of motion comics, Gifted is the very best motion comic book out there," Adams said in an interview on the Hulu blog. "There will be some in the future that will be as good if not better, but right now it's the best one."
Adams also had this to say about about Whedon:
"I guess there may be a better script writer out there, but is there someone more used to the form of both comic books and film? I don't think there is."
Check it out for yourself below.