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CultureTotal Recall
Activision’s 1984 Catalogue Did Not Feature Call of Duty
Before the internet, before people even really cottoned onto the idea of games magazines, publishers had to sell things the old-fashioned way: with TV ads and catalogues. Most catalogues were simple affairs, all bright lights, screenshots and slogans, but sometimes publishers went a little left field. Like Activision did in 1984 when it basically commissioned…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 21, 2012 -
So, Activision and Call of Duty’s Creators Had a Pretty Bitchy Relationship
A stack of emails released as part of the ongoing legal action between Activision and Call of Duty’s creators have turned up some hilariously catty exchanges and contingency plans coming from the publisher’s top brass. Posted over on the LA Times, a 2009 email from Activision’s president of publishing, Mike Griffith, mentions a plan to…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 21, 2012 -
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