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Activision Goes Indie with Dark Reign on Xbox Live [Update]
Dark Reign Redux, a remake of 1997’s Dark Reign: The Future of War, a real-time strategy game for PC, just published on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel yesterday, without Activision so much as stapling a flyer to a telephone pole or putting up a card on a café barter board for its marketing. [Update]…
By Owen Good -
Where Have all the Skylanders Gone, Uncle Activision?
Activision’s action figure-driven Skylanders: Sypro’s Adventure was a huge holiday hit last year, with parents buying up starter kits in droves. Now, with hundreds of thousands of children demanding additional figures, empty Skylanders displays have become an all-too-frequent frustration for haggard parents. Yes, all is going according to Activision’s evil plan. The first game to…
By Mike Fahey -
Call of Duty Says Happy Holidays with Double XP and a Prestige Token for Elite Members
Premium Call of Duty Elite Subscribers got a couple stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve for use in Modern Warfare 3. They’ll get an extra two hours of double XP play, and a Prestige Token that can be redeemed for more XP time or other perks in the game’s Prestige Shop. Beachhead Studio and the Call…
By Owen Good -
There’s No Stopping the Epic Call of Duty Lawsuit
Denying request for summary judgment, the Los Angeles Superior Court gave Activision the green light to go to trial with its $400 million contract interference lawsuit against Electronic Arts over Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella. The gist of the lawsuit is this: Activision Publishing alleges that West and Zampella of development…
By Mike Fahey -
The Making of a Transformers Game Trailer So Powerful It Moves Its Devs to Tears
Is it me, or is High Moon Studios president Peter Della Penna on the verge of tears when describing a touching moment between Bumblebee and Optimus Prime in this making-of video for the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Video Game Awards trailer? This is why the folks at High Moon Studios keep getting to make Transformers…
By Mike Fahey -
Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Was My Favorite VGA Surprise
You can keep your Command & Conquer Generals 2 and The Last of Us; for me the biggest news out of the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards wasn’t a new game but the return of something old: Tony Hawk. Well, not Tony Hawk himself, of course. He’s only 43, and five years older than me…
By Mike Fahey -
Behind the Music of Transformers and BioShock Infinites’ Moving VGA Trailers
Ever since Epic’s Gears of War plucked heartstrings with a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” game creators have been attempting to recreate that magic, forging an emotional bond between gamers and game through evocative music. Let’s see how good a job Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and BioShock Infinite did of it with their…
By Mike Fahey -
The Amazing Spider-Man Battles Berzerk Robots, Because Non-Beserk Robots Would Be Boring
After two games that weren’t exactly dripping with hot web-slinging action, developer Beenox takes things open world in the Amazing Spider-Man. How focused are they on swinging this time around? So focused that they haven’t noticed they’ve stolen the plot from a Robocop move. Come on folks, haven’t we learned by now that when you…
By Mike Fahey
