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Bond. James Bond. James Bond 007: Blood Stone Impressions
The more violent but still suave Daniel Craig version of James Bond gets an original, cinematic adventure in James Bond 007: Blood Stone, Bizarre Creations’ new action game that mixes shooting, boat racing and neck-snapping melee. The makers of The Club and Blur combine their multi-genre talents in this third-person, globe-trotting video game version of…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 22, 2010 -
The Ultimate Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Hands-On Preview
Spider-Man’s latest video game adventure has four times the Spidey, a quartet of multi-dimensional webheads working toward a common goal. Last night, I played in two of those dimensions, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions’ versions of Metal Gear and God of War. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions takes four iterations of the classic character and gives each a unique…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 22, 2010 -
These Are The Games Going To Comic-Con
Video games have a huge presence at this year’s Comic-Con, with offerings from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Capcom, Activision, Konami and more. Going by the long list of games in this post, it may be the biggest ever. If you find yourself at the show, stop by these publisher and developer booths to get your hands…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 21, 2010 -
Is Something Tingling? Prepare Your Spider-Man Questions!
The timing for this week’s podcast could not be better. No, really. It could not. What better way to dive into Comic-Con than with Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Shattered Dimensions game designer Francois Taddei will be on hand to talk about everyone’s favorite neighborhood hero — make that, heroes. The game features Spidey from various dimensions…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 21, 2010 -
Activision Says Call Of Duty Is This Generation’s Star Wars
That’s according to Activision Publishing’s CEO Eric Hirshberg. And yes, he’s being serious. “The Call of Duty franchise is a force of nature. I think it is the closest thing this generation has to a Star Wars,” he told IGN. “I think it’s unique and bigger than any musical act or any movie franchise in…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 21, 2010 -
The Next Guitar Hero Ends On An Epic, 20 Minute Long Note
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, the latest entry in Activision’s rhythm game series that also features a story-driven “Quest Mode,” will test your endurance with one of the longest Rush songs on catalog, the epic overture “2112.” Rolling Stone reveals the inclusion of side one of Rush’s 1976 album, also titled 2112, which runs 20…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 20, 2010 -
Call of Duty’s Pay To Play Rumors Squashed By Treyarch, Infinity Ward
The publisher of Call of Duty may want to explore “new digital business models” for its bestselling military shooter—perhaps as an MMO—but rumors of Modern Warfare 2 going pay-to-play appear to be premature. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling took to his massively followed Twitter account today, dispelling rumors that the…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 19, 2010 -
GoldenEye N64 To Wii Comparison, Dam Vs. Dam
This fall’s GoldenEye game on the Wii isn’t a shot-for-shot remake of the Nintendo 64 James Bond original. It doesn’t even use the same maps. But let’s compare overlapping locations. This is the Facility level in the N64 game. So is this. This is the Facility of the new game from a new screenshot released…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 16, 2010 -
New James Bond Game Is Like A New James Bond Movie
Confirming literally years of rumours, Activision today unveiled James Bond: Blood Stone, a new Bond game that comes with not just driving sequences, but some celebrity pedigree, too. For one, it’s featuring the vocal talents of Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench, reprising their roles from the last two Bond movies. The game’s story has…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 16, 2010 -
Helicopter Combat Game? Yes Please!
It’s been awhile since I’ve played a decent helicopter combat game, and there’s no telling whether this will be decent, but Apache: Air Assault will most definitely be all about helicopters shooting it up. Apache: Air Assault is being developed by Gaijin Entertainment, makers of Wings of Luftwaffe and IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, for…
By Brian Crecente Published July 15, 2010 -
Calling Activision Boss “A Total Prick” Was A Total Accident
Game designer Tim Schafer called Activision honcho Robert Kotick a “total prick” yesterday. Activision then replied to his claim that Kotick was a “total prick”. Schafer now says calling Kotick “a total prick” was an “accident”. “That was an accident,” Schafer told website Eurogamer. “I was going to change the title of my talk to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 15, 2010 -
Your Fourth Spider-Man From Shattered Dimensions Is…
…well, it could be a few things. What appears to be the final box art for Activision’s Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is here, thanks to Gamefly, apparently revealing the fourth, still unofficially revealed incarnation of Spidey. And he’s black. That black suit version of Spider-man could be a throwback to the post-Secret Wars webslinger, when Peter…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2010 -
Activision Responds To Accusations That Its CEO Is A Total Prick
Brutal Legend and Grim Fandango creator Tim Schafer labeled Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick a “dick,” “total prick” and, most damning, a ball bearing enthusiast. Fair enough. Just don’t accuse Mr. Kotick of not liking video games, Activision says. Activision has responded from the video game industry’s playground today, firing back at Schafer (sort of)…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2010 -
Tim Schafer Calls Activision Boss “A Total Prick”
Tim Schafer, the creator of classics like Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and Psychonauts, has some choice words to say about Activision boss Robert Kotick. Two of those words are “total” and “prick”. “His obligation is to his shareholders,” Schafer tells Eurogamer. “Well, he doesn’t have to be as much of a dick about it, does…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 14, 2010 -
The Creator of Sony’s Fake Exec Hero Moves To Activision
Activision Publishing’s new head honcho may be the man who created Sony’s tie-wearing, trash-talking fake spokesman Kevin Butler, but that doesn’t mean the largest publisher in the world will be getting their own fake executive hero soon. Eric Hirshberg, who becomes Activision Publishing’s new CEO in September, acknowledged some of the issues Activision faces when…
By Brian Crecente Published July 13, 2010 -
The Secret Lives of Gamers Should Stay Secret
Everyone is entitled to a secret identity, it seems. That’s the lesson that Blizzard learned last week when they unveiled a new set of rules that would have stripped anonymity away from those posting comments in the forums for the developer’s popular games like World of Warcraft and the upcoming StarCraft II. Blizzard’s Real ID…
By Brian Crecente Published July 12, 2010 -
Trial Date Set in Infinity Ward Suit
A California judge today set a trial date of May 23 for the lawsuit involving Activision and Infinity Ward founders Vince Zampella and Jason West. A hearing in Los Angeles today scheduled both the trial and also another hearing for Aug. 5 to determine whether a third lawsuit, filed by employees of Infinity Ward against…
By Owen Good Published July 9, 2010 -
Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock, Act One
Activision’s compiled a nifty clip showing off some previous revealed music from the upcoming Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, so let’s let the bodies hit the floor, get our money for nothing, and pour some sugar on this rock montage. It’s official: I am no longer excited by videos for the band games. It used…
By Mike Fahey Published July 8, 2010 -
Xbox Live Is Microsoft’s New Billion Dollar Business (And Activision Wants A Piece)
Microsoft’s Xbox Live service has pulled in an estimated $1.2 billion for the Xbox 360 maker, with annual Gold subscription fees and sales of digital content combined, according to Bloomberg. Good news for… Bobby Kotick? According to Microsoft’s Dennis Durkin, the Xbox’s chief operating officer, sales of Live content like movies, TV shows, Avatar items…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 7, 2010