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Blur Xbox 360 Beta Begins Monday
Plenty of Fileplanet subscribers tipped us to a solicitation that went out overnight, inviting them to “exclusive access into a highly classified Xbox 360 beta event!” that begins March 8. Those who have signed up tell us it is for Blur. This barely qualifies as a rumor. Earlier this month Activision CEO Mike Griffith announced…
By Owen Good Published February 27, 2010 -
Transformers: War For Cybertron Preview: A World Without Michael Bay’s Robots
No humans. No Michael Bay. Two campaigns. Three-player online (only) drop-in/drop-out co-op Transformers with a link to the past and a Gears of War amount of gunfire. Happier? Last week, the developers of Transformers: War For Cybertron began the live demo of their summer game with an audacious claim. “The goal was not to make…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 26, 2010 -
First Look At Transformers: War For Cybertron Gameplay Footage
Cutscenes are nice and all, but gameplay is what we want to see. And gameplay is what we will see! Set before the Transformers had contact with Earth, multi-platform title War For Cybertron allows players to partake in the battle between Autobots and Decepticons. The game is being developed by High Moon Studios, best known…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 26, 2010 -
Reviews
Call of Duty: World At War: Zombies Verrückt Micro-Review: Solo Fun
No longer limited to wandering the rooms of an abandoned building, the zombies of the Verrückt zombie asylum add-on pack for iPhone’s Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies are trying to break their way into the halls of an insane asylum. The basic premise of this $5 in-game purchase is the same – kill…
By Brian Crecente Published February 25, 2010 -
Blur Gets All Twittery
Bizarre Creations’ Blur is hopping on the Twitter bandwagon, giving players the ability to send customized Tweets while playing through the developer’s latest racing title. Bizarre Creations would have us believe that Blur is the future of video game racing, so of course it needs to be tied together with the future of talking about…
By Mike Fahey Published February 24, 2010 -
The Activision-Wants-Harmonix Theory
Over at the blog Dubious Quality, Bill Harris has been spotting some dots and trying to connect them. The picture he’s got is of Activision making a play for MTV-owned Rock Band studio Harmonix, something that is pure speculation. Harris notes recent comments from an MTV person saying the Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero format…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 23, 2010 -
Activision Going To Court Over Guitar Hero Patent Claims
Activision, the publisher of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, is being taken to court over claims that the trademarks registered over its popular music titles have little to do with the operations of the actual products. A group going by the name “Patent Compliance Group” has filed suit in the Texas Northern District Court, alleging…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 22, 2010 -
Activision Chief Regrets Not Making Guitar Hero With Harmonix
In 2006, Activision bought Red Octane, publisher of Guitar Hero, resulting in series developer Harmonix launching the rival game Rock Band and starting one of the uglier public feuds in gaming. Today, Activision’s CEO said shunning Harmonix was a mistake. “When we were buying Guitar Hero, or buying Red Octane, the makers of Guitar Hero,…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010 -
Bobby Kotick, Warm and Fuzzy, Defends Notorious No-Fun Statements
Bobby Kotick, head of Activision, thought he was Luke, not Vader. And he didn’t mean that thing about wanting to make game-making no fun. “I don’t know how this happened, but all my life I was the rebel flying the Millennium Falcon or the X-Wing fighter and suddenly I wake up and I’m on board…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010 -
Activision Shutters Guitar Hero Creators, GH: Van Halen Developers [Update]
In addition to sackings at Neversoft and Luxoflux, Kotaku has learned today that publisher Activision has also laid off employees at RedOctane and internal studio Underground Development. We’ve heard that RedOctane, the publisher of the original Guitar Hero and creator of the franchise’s plastic instruments, has been completely shut down. Those responsible directly for the…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 12, 2010 -
Activision Takes Axe To Guitar Hero’s Neversoft, Shuts Down Luxoflux
Prototype developer Radical Entertainment isn’t the only studio that got the axe from parent company Activision today. Sources close to and within developers Neversoft (Guitar Hero) and Luxoflux (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) are also being gutted. Luxoflux, also responsible for True Crime and Kung Fu Panda games for Activision, is said to have been…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 11, 2010 -
Prototype Developer Radical Cut In Half
Radical Entertainment, developer of Prototype and The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, has been hit with substantial layoffs today, according to development sources close to the Vancouver-based studio. Approximately 90-plus employees have been let go, sources say. That’s about half the studio’s headcount, apparently, affecting two of the three development teams at the Activision Blizzard owned…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 11, 2010 -
Dev Eyes Call of Duty: World at War for iPhone
Treyarch wasn’t really interested in the business of making cell phone games, at least not before the iPhone. But the tremendous success of Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies on the iPhone has the developer, best known for their hardcore console shooters, reconsidering. “We are very interested (in bringing more games to the iPhone),”…
By Brian Crecente Published February 11, 2010 -
The 2010 Console War, According To Activision
Publisher Activision Blizzard is hoping for a better year for the video game industry in 2010, expecting retail and digital sales to up 8 percent in the U.S. and Europe. And it’s calling the Wii to perform strongest this year. Activision is expecting the Wii to outsell its competitors, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3,…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 10, 2010 -
Take Blur For A Test Drive In March
Bizarre Creations’ luminescent racing video game Blur, its first title for owner Activision, will be getting a beta test in March, the game’s publisher announced today, giving drivers a chance to take it for spin in advance of its release. Activision CEO Mike Griffith announced the mutiplayer beta test for Blur today, but didn’t offer…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 10, 2010 -
Activision Has Call of Duty 7 Loaded For Holiday
Given the “disproportionate contribution” that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 provided to Activision Blizzard’s well-padded bottom line, it won’t come as a surprise that the next Call of Duty game is coming this holiday season. See? You’re not surprised. Activision Blizzard confirmed its plans to “continue annualizing” the first-person shooter franchise with the still-unnamed…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 10, 2010 -
Activision Narrows Music Focus To Guitar And DJ Hero
Having released 25 different rhythm game SKUs in 2009, Activision narrows the focus in 2010, with only a new Guitar Hero and DJ Hero 2 slated for release in 2010. During Activision’s 2009 financial results conference call, Activision’s Mike Griffith explained that while 2009 saw Activision increasing its share in the rhythm genre to 51%,…
By Mike Fahey Published February 10, 2010 -
Activision Boasts $1.56 Billion, Better Than Expected Q4
Despite doing business in “difficult times,” super publisher Activision Blizzard had a better than expected holiday quarter, with $1.56 billion in revenue during the company’s Q4, bringing the yearly haul to $4.28 billion. How did Activision do so well? Activision Blizzard CEO gives props to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the “#1 best-selling title…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 10, 2010 -
Must Resist Adorable Hamster Baby
Resisting a Nintendo DS game about cute little robot hamsters might be possible, but when Activision packs in a tiny stuffed hamster baby into the collector’s edition of Zhu Zhu Pets, even the strongest man’s resolve begins to falter. Zhu Zhu Pets, announced back in December, is a game based on the mechanical hamster toys…
By Mike Fahey Published February 4, 2010 -
Meet The New Guitar Hero Boss, Not The Old Guitar Hero Boss
Say goodbye to the old Guitar Hero CEO Dan Rosensweig. He’s leaving the position at Activision after less than a year, a year in which the Guitar Hero (and DJ Hero and Band Hero) franchise didn’t do so well. And please welcome the new Guitar Hero boss, David Haddad, formerly the COO of the Guitar…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 2, 2010