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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 Published December 22, 2011 -
If Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron Looks as Good as This, No One Will Complain
Concept art is a guess, a hope and sometimes an unintended lie. Remember that today as you look at the concept art for next year’s Transformers: Fall of Cyberton, the 2012 follow-up to Activision and High Moon Studios’ impressive 2010 Transformers game War for Cybertron People who grew up with the original Transformers—people like me—will…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 19, 2011 -
Embrace The Thrill of the Hunt in This Prototype 2 Trailer
The developers at Radical talk about how you’ll be stalking James Heller’s prey in the upcoming open-world sequel. Eating enemies also gets in this behind-the-scenes look, which also offers new looks at combat and quests, too. You’ll get your chance to hunt through Prototype 2’s ruined New York City when the game hits on April…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 16, 2011 -
Activision Stretches Another Franchise Even More with Skylanders Universe
Activision notched an unexpected hit this year when they mashed up collectible toys and video games to create Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. The idea of static toys that you could bring to life inside of a playable world appealed to kids and adults alike, including Kotakuites Brian Crecente, his son Tristan and Mike Fahey. Sales for…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 16, 2011 -
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 Published December 13, 2011 -
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