Activision - Page 55 of 125

Bungie’s Next Huge Game is an Xbox-First “Sci-Fantasy, Action Shooter,” Court Records Show

The court case between Activision and developers Jason West and Vincent Zampella has brought all kinds of ugliness to light. But filings for the case have also made the details of the April, 2010 contract between Bungie, developers of Halo, and Activision a matter of public record, revealing Bungie’s upcoming game development plans. The L.A.…

By Kate Cox Published May 21, 2012

Activision’s “Sphere”: The Most-Used Unusable Piece of Video Game Music Ever

In the middle 1980s, my brother and I both had Commodore 64s. Our next-door neighbor was the electronics buyer for a catalog showroom—a breed of variety store brought to its knees by Walmart before Best Buy and e-commerce finished the job. Our neighbor was in charge of buying computer hardware, and software. That meant we…

By Owen Good Published May 17, 2012

Activision and EA Settle Case Over Call of Duty [Update]

Activision and EA have agreed to file a settlement agreement in their dispute over Call of Duty, according to a Bloomberg report The settlement is from a countersuit brought by Activision against EA accusing them of attempting to pry Jason West and Vince Zampella away from them. The initial suit was brought against Activision by…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 16, 2012

Call of Duty Accused of “Shamelessly” Ripping off Another Series, Legal Warfare Ensues

Activision is facing another big lawsuit over its tentpole Call of Duty series, only this one has nothing to do with people who used to work on the series. It’s to do with a rival developer who owns the right to a name that Call of Duty uses a lot Fans older PC shooters may…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 15, 2012

Activision Wants to Delay the Big Call of Duty Lawsuit

The lawyer in Activision’s case against Call of Duty’s creators, Beth Wilkinson, who was only hired last week as a replacement, has asked for the trial’s commencement date to be pushed back by 30 days so she can “get up to speed”. [BW]

By Luke Plunkett Published May 15, 2012

Black Ops II Studio Head Knows Fans Want a “Better-Looking Game”

Activision puts out a new Call of Duty game every year. It’s been that way for the last half-decade or so. Trouble is, this annualization give people a wide-open lane to complain about recycled engines and how the games all look the same. Mark Lamia—head of Treyarch, the studio behind the Black Ops branch of…

By Evan Narcisse Published May 15, 2012

Activision Pays Ex-Call of Duty Developers $42 Million

The ongoing legal feud between publishers Activision and former employees Jason West and Vince Zampella, the creators of the Call of Duty franchise, took an interesting turn today when Activision coughed up over $40 million. Note that this is not part of any settlement; according to Polygon, it’s the result of Activision doing a little…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 14, 2012

I Hope This Doesn’t Rule Out a Big Boy Transformers Prime Game

While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 get what’s shaping up to be a pretty spectacular Fall of Cybertron, Nintendo Wii, 3DS and DS players get this. Now I am not saying this isn’t an excellent Transformers Prime game. I’ve not played it, so for all I know it could be spectacular. It just looks…

By Mike Fahey Published May 10, 2012

Skylanders Moves More Than 30 Million Colorful Pieces of Plastic

In today’s first quarter financial results announcement Activision revealed at more than 30 million Skylanders toys had been sold as of March 31. That’s enough toys to feed 30 million plastic-eating children a day for an entire… day.

By Mike Fahey Published May 9, 2012

Amazon-Exclusive Spider-Man Preorder Bonus Lets You Play as the Amazing Stan Lee

Just look at it, folks. That’s how you generate preorders right there. Amazon is going to be swamped. I didn’t believe it when Stan Lee said it back in March, and now that Activision’s made it official I’m still not sure I believe it. And I call myself a true believer. But yes, it is…

By Mike Fahey Published May 9, 2012

One of the Most Popular Family Guy Episodes Gets Its Own Video Game

With ten seasons of Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy to explore it might seem silly to base a new video game on one single episode. That is unless the episode in question is season eight’s brilliant “Road to the Multiverse.” Outed on Friday via Amazon and confirmed by Activision this morning, Family Guy: Back to the…

By Mike Fahey Published May 7, 2012

Black Ops II Chooses Someone Who Failed the Call of Duty

When you face low expectations, falling short of them doesn’t count for much either. And that’s the dirty secret of Call of Duty, which has spent four years solidifying its image as a crass chickenhawk brand thanks to some particularly dumb marketing initiatives. But hiring Lt. Col. Oliver North as a spokesman for Black Ops…

By Owen Good Published May 4, 2012

Black Ops II Gets an Emotional Dubstep Makeover

When we say “Dubstep” most people think of hard drops and grinding wubs. But there is a lot more to the genre than that. When people think Call of Duty, they think of hard explosions and grinding machine guns. But… perhaps there’s more to the genre than that? YouTuber TomahawkTrix thinks so, anyway, with this…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 4, 2012

Ever Wonder What’s Inside a Guitar Hero Guitar?

Sure, you could smash one open, but these are pieces of consumer electronics, not Easter eggs. Why do you always have to go for the violent option first? In a post over on Behance, industrial designer George Schnakenberg explains the design process behind the last Guitar Hero peripheral, that used for Warriors of Rock, and…

By Luke Plunkett Published May 3, 2012

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron‘s Shockwave, Optimus Prime, and Jazz Trapped in Plastic Bubbles

Here’sa a trio of official packshots for Hasbro’s Transformers Generations Fall of Cybertron line, with Optimus Prime, Shockwave, and Jazz sporting the sexy Cybertronian forms they’ll be wearing in Activision’s next big bot game. I was fully expecting the Optimus Prime to be the same one from War for Cybertron in a fancy new package.…

By Mike Fahey Published May 2, 2012

How Call of Duty Is Making Anonymous “the Enemy” [UPDATE]

Blink and you’ll miss it. The Guy Fawkes mask flashes on the screen only for a brief instant, but it’s there. Twice. The iconic mug first entered pop culture in the graphic novel V for Vendetta, but has since been re-appropriated by internet collective Anonymous as well as Occupy Wall Street protesters. That iconic mask,…

By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2012

Explosive, Horse-Laden Screengrabs From Black Ops II‘s First Trailer

So, how about that Black Ops II trailer? Pretty explosive stuff. Now that you know more about the game itself, I thought it might be fun to go through some image-grabs from the trailer, just to tell you what I’m seeing there and how it lines up with that I saw of the game last…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012

Black Ops II‘s ‘Strike Force’ Mode Adds a Branching Narrative With a Tactical Twist

Every past Call of Duty game has featured a rigidly linear single-player campaign. They’ve gotten shorter and shorter as the years have gone by, too—the last few games have featured campaigns that have lasted merely 4-6 hours. Treyarch is aiming to change that with Black Ops II with the inclusion of “Strike Force,” a new,…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012

48 Things That You Should Know About Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Last week, I headed down to visit with Treyarch in Santa Monica to get an extended look at Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Our visit was entirely hands-off, and consisted mostly of a series of in-game demos of missions from the single-player campaign, as well as a new open-ended single-player mode called “Strike Force.”…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012

Watch the First Trailer For Black Ops II Right Now

Here it is, folks—the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops II As you can see, the game will take place in the future. And in the past! The military has come to rely on a huge force of unarmed drones and tanks, and some nefarious so-and-so has hacked them and turned them against…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 1, 2012