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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 Published December 12, 2011 -
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 Published December 12, 2011 -
Michael Bay, This is How you do Transformers
Hot damn. I know it’s just a pre-rendered trailer, and I know the song is corny, but this 1:47 of Transformers action spoke to me more as a Transformer fan than Michael Bay’s three films put together. It’s the Spike Holiday Video Game Advertising Extravaganza Spike Video Game Awards trailer for the upcoming action game…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 11, 2011 -
Call of Duty Maker Gets Teabagged As Charlie Sheen Watches
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 picked up the award for best shooter during Spike TV’s Video Game Awards show tonight, but not without causality. The rules of the VGA acceptance speech are: If you go past your allotted time, a cosplaying soldier teabags you on stage. When Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling blew…
By Brian Crecente Published December 10, 2011 -
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 Published December 10, 2011 -
Battlefield‘s Taken a Piece of Call of Duty‘s Pie, Says Peter Moore
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 left an inch-deep bootprint on video gaming’s biggest retail month, and dominated most measures the popular press use to designate big-game-itude. Yet Peter Moore, the Electronic Arts chief operating officer, is insisting his label’s Battlefield 3 drew blood from the year’s biggest commercial release. “I think when the dust…
By Owen Good Published December 8, 2011 -
Action is His Your Reward in Activision’s New Amazing Spider-Man Game
There’s a Spider-Man movie reboot coming next summer, with The Social Network‘s Andrew Garfield wearing the webbed uniform of Marvel Comics’ premier character. The Amazing Spider-Man movie will be accompanied by a game of the same name, built by Montreal’s Quebec City’s Beenox dev studio. That collective turned out the last two Spidey games for…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 7, 2011 -
Hope You’re Ready for a New Tony Hawk Game
Activision’s Tony Hawk franchise took its first ever year off in 2011 because it had been run into the ground. Too many games in too many years with not enough new ideas. With the Spike Video Game Awards coming up, it appears that one year off is all Activision felt it could afford. “I’ll be…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 7, 2011 -
So This Call of Duty Ad is Much Better
OK, so that first Jonah Hill x Sam Worthington Call of Duty ad was…OK. A little cheesy, a little much, but OK. Their newer, second commercial is much better. Less effects, less bombast. Just two dudes from different sides of the tracks hangin’ out, talking tactics. It drags in parts, and Hill’s leaner face is…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 1, 2011 -
If Anyone Makes Money Off The Old Republic, It’ll Be Lucas, Says Activision Boss
Having done a lot of business with Lucasarts—Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Star Wars: STFU—Activision boss Bobby Kotick knows who comes out ahead in that relationship. It ain’t the publisher, he said, when asked his thoughts on Star Wars: The Old Republic “Lucas is going to be the principal beneficiary of the success of Star Wars,”…
By Owen Good Published November 30, 2011 -
Tomorrow’s New Call of Duty is for the iPhone
Call of Duty: Zombies was a hit on the iPhone, a simplified port of the popular “Nazi Zombies” game from Call of Duty: World at War—players fight to defend a building from increasingly difficult waves of advancing undead. It was a fairly humble iOS first-person shooter, but it had a strong brand behind it, was…
By Kirk Hamilton Published November 30, 2011 -
A Tantalizing Glimpse of Transformers: Rise of Grimlock
You can call it Transformers: Fall of Cybertron all you want. This brief teaser for the trailer airing during the Spike TV Video Game Awards shows who the star of this show really is. Starscream, Ironhide, Optimus, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper are all well and good, but none of them stack up to a giant robot…
By Mike Fahey Published November 30, 2011 -
Norway Mass Killer May Be Declared Legally Insane
Confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik was legally insane when he killed nearly 80 people, many children, during a bombing and shooting rampage in Norway in July, according to a psychiatric evaluation ordered by the court, the Associated Press reports. Breivik, 32, said he claimed a modern day affliction, World of Warcraft gaming addiction, to…
By Brian Crecente Published November 29, 2011 -
Customizer Fixes the Biggest Problem With Skylanders Toys
While the plastic characters Toys For Bob created to populate the world of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure are certainly cute, colorful, and well-made, zero points of articulation makes them less action figure, more tiny statue. Action figure customizer supreme Jin Saotome brings four Skylanders to life in a whole new way. With a steady hand and…
By Mike Fahey Published November 28, 2011 -
Is “Morning Wood” Really a Map Name in Modern Warfare 3‘s First DLC?
Grain-of-salt territory here, but rumors have it that Modern Warfare 3‘s first set of premium downloadable content will feature five maps entitled “Morning Wood,” “Concrete,” “Park,” “Italy,” and “Overwatch.” The title of the first, and the fact “Overwatch” was a map in Modern Warfare 2, calls for some healthy skepticism. Modern Prestige has what it…
By Owen Good Published November 26, 2011 -
Call of Duty Elite Is 95 Percent Operational, Mobile Versions Inbound Next Week
Call of Duty’s online Elite service is just about fully functionally, with the first episode of Friday Night Fights set to hit this week and the mobile version releasing as early as next week, Activision says. “We changed our status to green yesterday,” said Daniel Suarez, vice president of production at Activision. The service had…
By Brian Crecente Published November 23, 2011 -
Activision’s CEO Thinks Call of Duty Deserves Hurt Locker-Level Respect
Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg had some sharp words when asked about the criticism that Call Of Duty games get for their supposed glorification of violence and military aggression. “There’s a sense that games are more exploitive in a way that The Hurt Locker—which also was designed as form of entertainment—isn’t.” Hirshberg’s opinion is that “video…
By Evan Narcisse Published November 22, 2011 -
One Million People Are Paying for Call of Duty Elite
Never mind that the rollout for Call of Duty Elite, Call of Duty‘s stat tracking and social service, hasn’t been smooth, Activision is sending out a press release this morning to proudly announce that it’s sold one million premium accounts. Congrats! GameStop alone sold 600,00 Elite membership. According to Elite‘s status page, “Service Is Intermittent”.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 22, 2011 -
79.9 Years Is Too Damn Long To Play Call of Duty
In 79 years, I’ll probably be dead. So will the vast majority of our readers, save for the little assholes on Xbox Live. For reader Jeremy (not an asshole!), 79.9 years is apparently how long it will take him to reach “Prestige” in Call of Duty Prestige is, of course, the highest ranking CoD players…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 21, 2011