Gaming News | GameViper

CALeague is Dead?

Daniel — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:54:01 +0000

According to several rumors, the fact that their website and forums are currently offline and their dismal IRC channel topic (” Andrew Waterman broke CAL….blame him and Angel Munoz”), there is reason to believe that the Cyberathlete Amateur League is no more. In November of last year, CAL & CPL were purchased by a United Emirates Firm under the name “CPL Holdings Group, LTD.” Kevin Delaney, a staff member of CAL states:

All CAL staff have been locked out of the site by the new owner and CAL and its leagues sit in limbo. Please feel free to leave your feedback with the new owner at scott.valencia@gmail.com. All matches MUST NOT BE PLAYED. They are on hold until further notice. We have no idea if/when it will return.

It is unsure whether this may be the end of CAL as we know it, or just a restructuring of CAL by its new owners. Either way, this has raised many concerns amongst the competitive and esports gaming community. While CAL is often criticized for being unprofessional and unorganized, it has introduced tens of thousands of players into competitive online gaming.

The Cyberathlete Amateur League first started back in 2001 with a single Counter-Strike division. Since then it has attracted hundreds of thousands of users and clans to tout their online gaming prowess in clan matches. Today (well, earlier today), CAL is a host to dozens of divisions for different games and formats: from Counter-Strike, to DotA, to Left 4 Dead. There has not been an official statement from CPL Holdings Group, LLC., or NewWorld.com, Inc., the previous owners of CALeague and the Cyberathlete Professional League.

Update: CPL Holdings Group’s CAL site states that the CALeague site is just being moved to a new data center in the United Kingdom (although most of their members reside in the US..). Although much relief comes from this news — our minds are boggled of how careless it was of the new owners to not notify any of CAL volunteers or members of the situation.

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Tabula Rasa is No More

Daniel — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:35:38 +0000

Well, we can’t say we didn’t see it coming but Tabula Rasa, Richard Garriott’s MMORPG, will be coming to an end in February of next year according to Edge Online . This news comes in just days after Garriott announced he will be quitting his job at NCSoft. Which he, incidentally, announced when he had arrived from his trip to the International Space Station — everything must seem insignificant when you’ve just come back from space.

The majority of Tabula Rasa’s team will be laid off as the date approaches. NCSoft has claimed that Tabula Rasa will be completely dismantled — there is absolutely no chance of the game coming back - the decision has been made. The game will be free for its last month, from January to February. Loyal players of Tabula Rasa (i.e. the people who didn’t cancel before today’s date) will be receiving some extra perks from NCSoft including two three month subscriptions to Lineage II and City of Heroes, among other things. Users who prepaid for subscriptions will get their money back, of course.

Back in August, the Tabula Rasa crew just missed getting the axe during that around of layoffs at NCSoft. Since then rumors of Tabula Rasa getting shut down have been rampant - whilst NCSoft negated all of them at every point. According to NCSoft it was a recent decision — at the time they were trying to keep the game up as long as possible.

RIP Tabula Rasa, 2007-2008.

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Leaked Gears of War 2 Boss Battle

Daniel — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:15:22 +0000

Here’s leaked gameplay from the “Water Boss” battle in Gears of War 2.

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Apple Donates $100,000 To Fight Prop 8

Daniel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:21:33 +0000

Today, Apple officially announced it opposed Proposition 8 in California. To show their support for equal rights among gay and straight couples, Apple has donated $100,000 to fight Proposition 8, which would ban same sex marriage in California. Just earlier this year the California Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage is to be legal in California.

No on Prop 8

October 24, 2008

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

More info on Prop 8:

Proposition 8 is a proposed amendment to the California constitution which if passed into law would be known as the California Marriage Protection Act. This California ballot proposition will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot along with eleven other statewide propositions. Proposition 8 is one of four ballot measures which propose to amend the California state constitution and appears on the ballot titled as Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.

If it passes, it will add a new constitutional amendment to the California Constitution that will say “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California” and it will be known in law as the California Marriage Protection Act.

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Master Chief Costume - $630 Worth of Awesomeness

Daniel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:18:48 +0000

Need an uber badass, yet nerdy, Halloween costume? Costumes, Inc. has begun offering an officially licensed “Master Chief Collector’s Costume.” The costume will set you back $630 ($220 off the original price)

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Woman Arrested For Killling Husband’s MMO Character

Daniel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:03:39 +0000

OH THE HUMANITY! According to Redeye, a woman in Japan has been arrested for allegedly killing her husband’s character in the popular 2D MMO, Maple Story. According to the report file by the Sapporo, Japan police department she logged on with her husband’s account and password and proceeded to “kill” his online persona shortly after their sudden divorce.

The woman was arrested and jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data. When asked why she did it, the woman replied “I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry,” according to an anonymous officer. The woman is currently a piano teacher–which may change if she is charged with up to 5 years of prison or a $50,000 fine.

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Gears of War 2: “Last Day” Trailer

Daniel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:49:25 +0000

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Call of Duty: World At War Multiplayer Downfall Trailer

Daniel — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:33:24 +0000

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MotorStorm Pacific Rift Lunatics Unite Trailer

Daniel — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:24:46 +0000

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Seven New Nirvana Tracks Coming to Rock Band

Daniel — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:15:32 +0000

According to Ars Technica, Harmonix will release seven new Nirvana tracks for play in Rock Band.

Nirvana pack

These seven new tracks will set you back $1.99 each (160 Points) or $10.99 (880 Points) for the whole pack.

[via Ars Technica]

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LittleBigPlanet Delayed Due to Qur’an References

Daniel — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:07:41 +0000

According to a “semi-official” announcement on ThreeSpeech.com, LittleBigPlanet will be delayed due to several references to the Qur’an in a music track in the game.

“During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an.”

According to Media Molecule, the lyrics in this track could be offensive to some people. Media Molecule prepared a 0-day patch that would automatically remove or alter the track in question. Sony, however, thought it would be best to replace all existing discs. The new release date has yet to be announced, however, Media Molecule assures us they will do their best to get the project back on track for a timely release.

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Halo Wars Trailer - “Field Trip to Harvest”

Daniel — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:15:12 +0000

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Fable 2 - The First Ten Minutes

Daniel — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:47:06 +0000

Polygamia manages to get their hands on Fable 2 and gives us the first 10 minutes.

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Price W4RZ: Microsoft Offers $20 20GB HDD or Free 512MB Memory Card

Daniel — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:38:14 +0000

In an effort to keep outdoing Nintendo, Microsoft has begun offering 20GB HDDs or free 512MB memory cards for the $200 XBOX Arcade owners. With this deal you should be able to get an XBOX 360 console complete with a 20GB HDD for only $220, still $30 less than the Nintendo Wii. This is also an effort to get all XBOX 360 users ready for the upcoming updates, or the new “XBOX Experience” as they have labeled it, many of which will require the extra hard drive space that the arcade version does not have.

The Details: To sign up for the deal you must go to the official site and sign up by entering your console’s serial code and your information. You will then be able to purchase a refurbished 20GB HDD for only $20, or claim your free 512MB memory card.

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LittleBigPlanet Snags 9.5 in IGN Review

Daniel — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:54:22 +0000

Today IGN finally reviewed the cute platformer, Little Big Planet, for the PS3. And apparently, they liked it very much so–giving it a 9.5 out of 10 and labeling it as an “instant classic.” LBP scored high on all marks, only getting marked down for a minor problem in the control of plane shifting (minor enough for the game to still get a 9.5 in the gameplay section). Overall, IGN thought the game had a flawless presentation and offered enough content and customization to keep the average gamer amused with the game for a very “long, long, long time.”

Congratulations go to Media Molecule, the developers of LBP, for their success.

Watch the video review, or read the full review over at IGN.com:

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Spore Expansion Details & Confirmation

Daniel — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:36:10 +0000

According to Ars Technica, EA will be releasing two expansions for Spore. The first one, currently labeled as Creepy & Cute Parts Pack will provide over 100 new parts to the Creature Creator. Said expansion will be available to both people with the full game and those who only have the creature creator.

The second, still unnamed, will expand upon the Space stage of Spore. The expansion will allow you to beam yourself down to alien planets to interact with and explore the planet to complete missions. The second expansion will also include the Adventure Creator which allows users to create and share custom missions with other players. Current, the space stage in Spore is often criticized for being repetitive and boring, hopefully this should mix it up amongst players.

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COD: World at War Multiplayer Gameplay Video Leaked

Daniel — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:26:28 +0000

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EA Signs 300 Creator for New IPs

Daniel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:43:04 +0000

Today, Variety reported that EA has contracted Zack Snyder, creator of the the 300 movie, for three new IPs in upcoming games. Under the agreement Electronic Arts will hold all rights to the intellectual property, but Zack Snyder’s studio, Cruel & Unusual Films, will have the exclusive rights to any movies that arise from the IP, if warranted.

This comes from Electronic Arts, who is looking to expand their IP and to appeal more to their core consituency (youg males), in which case Zack Snyder would be the perfect match. In addition to directing “300,” Snyder also has the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead and the upcoming Watchmen (March 2009) under his belt.

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Watch Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix From Your XBOX 360 and Playstation 3

Daniel — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:36:28 +0000

PlayOn, brought to you buy MediaMall Technologies, allows you to stream Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix videos over your own home network straight to your XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. PlayOn also supports HP MediaSmart TV, as well as a few other video publishers including CBS, CNN and ESPN.

You can download this software for free if you sign up to be an official beta tester. Installing is easy as downloading the software to your pc, and then by going to your console and connecting to the PlayOn Media Server under your consoles respective settings.

PlayOn is powered by DNLA/UPnP technology. It pulls content from the providers via RSS feeds and then presents them to the connected device, converting it to a compatible format if necessary. MediaMall is also working on a version of their software for the Wii.

Learn more about PlayOn

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50% Off All Rockstar Games on Steam

Daniel — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:41:13 +0000

Steam and Rockstar are currently running a 50% off promotion for all Rockstar Games available on Steam. This promotion will only last this weekend (9/27-2/28). With this deal, you could snag Grand Theft Auto 3: San Andreas for only $9.99. You could also get the original Max Payne for only $4.99.

You can also get all 10 Rockstar Games available on Steam for only $30.

Via Steam and Joystiq.

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Nintendo Wii Tennis Spoof

Daniel — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:16:52 +0000

Hilarious Nintendo Wii Tennis Spooft

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Left 4 Dead PC System Requirements

Daniel — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:04:55 +0000

Today Valve’s Doug Lambardi released the official PC system requirements in response to some incorrect rumors floating around on the internets. These are the actual requirements, straight from the box:

OS: Windows Vista, XP or 2000

CPU: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)

RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista

DISC DRIVE: DVD-ROM Drive

HARD DRIVE: At least 7.5 GB of free space

VIDEO: Direct X 9 compatible video card (Video card must be 256 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for pixel shader 2.0)

SOUND: Direct X9.0c compatible sound card

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XBOX Live to Go Down for Up To 24 Hours Due to Upcoming Update

Daniel — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:13:21 +0000

According to Major Nelson, XBOX Live will go into maintenance mode starting September 29 starting at 12:01 PST. The service may remain offline for up to 24 hours.

The downtime will not bring any new features, it is merely Microsoft preparing for the update that will come later this fall.

This service maintenance is in preparation for the new Xbox experience which will be available later this fall.

Let me reiterate: When the service returns, you will not have any new features and you will not have the new Xbox experience update. That will happen later this Fall.

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Gears of War 2 Developer Diaries: Delta Blues

Daniel — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:48:41 +0000

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Resistance 2: Developer Walkthrough

Daniel — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:46:57 +0000

Resistance 2 Developer Walkthrough

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NPD: Top 5 Video Games of 2008

Daniel — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:36:06 +0000

NPD and Gamasutra have released a list of the five most popular games of 2008 (so far).

Playstation 3:

GTA IV
MGS 4
COD4
Madden 2009
GTA 5: Prologue

XBOX 360:

GTA IV
COD 4
Madden 2009
RSV 2
Army of Two

Wii:

SSM: Brawl
Mario Kart (with wheel)
Wii Play with Remote
Wii Fit with Balance Board
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

We weren’t surprised of several of those titles coming in the top 5 (Madden 2009, GTA IV), but it still amazes us that Call of Duty 4 sells tremendously 2 months shy of the first anniversary of it’s release. Another interesting point from this data is that 4 of the top 5 games for the Wii require or came with a new accessory or piece of hardware. We see that Nintendo has taken a different approach by offering accessories with their software rather than just software like Sony and Microsoft. We’ll see if Nintendo can keep it up for Winter/Holiday 2008.

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UK XBOX 360 Sales Up 32%; PS3 Falls 8%

Daniel — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:12:10 +0000

This last weekend the XBOX 360 saw a 32% increase in sales in the United Kingdom thanks to Microsoft’s latest price drop. Meanwhile, the Playstation 3 saw a 8% decrease in sales during the same period. This is what UK retail monitor, GfK Chart-Track, reported.

The Nintendo Wii sales also went up, but by a measly 3%, when compared to the XBOX 360. Microsoft’s second price cut seems to have spurred the second surge of XBOX 360 sales world wide. Earlier this week, XBOX 360 units in Europe broke 6 million. Japan has also seen a boost in XBOX 360 sales, where the console is constantly being reported as sold out.

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Spore Gets Patched

Daniel — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:17:13 +0000

Today, Electronic Arts released it’s very first patch for Spore. The patch includes several bug fixes as well as performance increases and tweaking to the difficulty settings. It also includes several new cheats plus a few new visual filters.

You can download the patch directly here. If you have the EA download manager you should be able to get it through that as well.

Features

* New Cheat: “evoadvantage”. Enter this cheat when are starting a new Creature game to choose any creature from the Sporepedia. Start a new game with one of your more evolved creatures!
* Display part statistics when you are in Build mode. Rollover any part and hold down the ‘i’ key.
* New Cheat: “blocksmode”. Turns creatures into their blocky representations.
* More style filters. Open the cheat window and type: “stylefilter -microscope” or “stylefilter -norainbows” or “stylefilter -nextgen” to see the new styles
* Added 70 new planet scripts with a low terraform score, especially of the “hot and high atmosphere” type

Graphics/Aesthetics

* Animation improvements
* Improved the planets fogging, blooming and lighting
* Fixed animation issues with tool handling, hand walking and some of the more oddly shaped creatures

Tuning

* Creature phase: Improved the pacing towards the end of the game, and increased the challenge in Normal and Hard modes.
* Tribe phase: Increased the challenge in Normal and Hard difficulty modes.
* Civilization phase: Increased the challenge in Normal and Hard difficulty modes.
* Space phase: Made Empires in Easy and Normal modes demand reasonable amounts of money in exchange for peace and adjust the level of punishment if the player doesn’t pay
* Space phase: Made disasters less likely to occur in Easy and Normal modes and increased the time between each attack from the enemy empire when the player is at war.

Miscellaneous

* Creature phase: Improved the way posse members behave during threatening situations and fights.
* Space phase: Made finding your home world and colonies easier in the Galactic view.
* Tribe phase: Made it so that tribe members can travel on steep hills if they need to do so now, but their speed will be reduced a lot.
* Fixed an issue with attacks not working on some bigger animals and larger animals not dying correctly
* Fixed collect mission not completing correctly when all parts have been collected
* Fixed problems with the “Rolling Thunder” and “Déjà Vu” achievements not being awarded as they should
* Fixed floating parts not being deducted from the budget when loaded into creator
* Fixed an issue with the rotation rings not resizing correctly when a part was resized and improved their look
* Fixed an issue where the terraforming score of planet could differ when revisiting a solar system
* Fixed the keyboard controls for zoom & pitch in the Colony Planner not working properly
* Fixed a crash that could occur when watching an epic creature attack a city
* Fixed some issues where the game would freeze when using the Creature Tweaker tool or when capturing a planet in solar view
* Fixed an issue where not all tribe members would obey the raid order when a large group was ordered to raid
* Fixed an issue where banning a creation from one of your other saved games would black out the main menu

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Playstation HOME Beta Preview

Daniel — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:56:41 +0000

Playstation Home Beta Preview Video

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Brothers In Arms: HH Launch Trailer

Daniel — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:37:21 +0000

Brother in Arms: HH Launch Trailer

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Counter-Strike.. For Kids

Daniel — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:03:52 +0000

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The Making of Left 4 Dead

Daniel — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:56:57 +0000

Gabe Newell in the making of in the upcoming zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, by Valve.

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Little Big Planet Release Date: 10/21/08

Daniel — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 06:55:33 +0000

Today, Media Molecule announced that Little Big Planet has gone gold–it’s finished. They have already started manufacturing the cases and manuals for the release. LBP will hit shelves on October 21st in North and Latin America, with the European version coming later in the week.

Users who celebrate the first week launch will get a limited edition spacesuit costume for their sack boy. Those who have it in the first week will also get a limited edition “I Was There Week One” t-shirt for their sack boy.

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Mirror’s Edge Release Date

Daniel — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:41:15 +0000

Today, Electronic Arts announced the release date for it’s upcoming, award winning game, Mirror’s Edge. The action-adventure game is scheduled to ship on November 11 for PS3 and XBOX 360, with the PC version coming later in the winter.

“Mirror’s Edge is bringing something new to the action-adventure genre this holiday by putting the player in the shoes of the hero, seeing what she sees, feeling what she feels,” said Owen O’Brien, senior producer at DICE.

“We wanted to create an entirely new experience, with a different type of heroine and a world that not only looks fresh and new but has unique gameplay.”

Mirror’s Edge was awarded best XBOX 360 game at this year’s Leipzig convention, and best original game at this year’s E3.

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Life with Playstation Out

Daniel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:02:31 +0000

According to this thread on the Playstation US forums, the new firmware update will include “Life with Playstation.” According to them, you must delete Folding@Home, and reinstall it via the icon. It will then be renamed “Life with Playstation.” Screenshots after the video.

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XBOX 360 Outselling Wii in Japan

Daniel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:31:08 +0000

According to Famistu publisher, the XBOX 360 has outsold the Wii and Playstation 3 for the week of September 8 through September 14. XBOX sold an astounding 28,681 during that week, compared to around 840 the previous week. The Wii came in second and got 27,057 units out, while the Playstation 3 came in last and sold 8,050 units.

This surge in sales is most likely caused by the September 11th XBOX 360 price drop in Japan.

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Google to Buy Valve–A “Complete Fabrication”

Daniel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:41:45 +0000

Today, many of us woke up to the incredible rumor that Google was planning on purchasing video game developer Valve. While this may be a geek’s dream, it was highly unlikely that this was actually true. Sure enough, Valve’s head PR guy has come out and said that this rumor is a “complete fabrication,” in an email to Stephen Totilo from MTV Multiplayer.

Just to make sure Lombardi wasn’t being cagey, I asked if it’s be correct if we posted that (my words) “Valve says Google isn’t buying the company.” He said that would be correct. So… no sale!

Sorry guys, it ain’t happening.

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Zero Punctuation: Spore

Daniel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:26:06 +0000

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Activision Looking to Milk Call of Duty For All It’s Worth

Daniel — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:49:18 +0000

In a recent interview with Edge-Online, Activision CEO Mike Griffith claimed Activision is looking to “monetize” Call of Duty’s online and multiplayer features to the fullest extent. “Over time, we’ll qualify more opportunities to increase the monetization of these activities,” said Griffith.

Activision has seen the potential on Call of Duty’s online features, citing that “The average Call of Duty player has spent nearly five full 24-hour days of their lives online since purchasing the game.” Griffith also said downloadable content would be a bigger priority in Call of Duty: World at War, having over 3 times the content, something he labeled as the “Day One Advantage.” Upon further questioning, Griffith said this “Day One Advantage” would allow players to earn experience points faster, giving them a clear advantage over those who weren’t willing to purchase the content.

Continuing to engage consumers online with Call of Duty [4] is a large part of the reason you still see the title selling for $59.99 in stores and the absence of any used games in the market for Call of Duty

Whether you believe this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your optimism, or lack thereof. We will definitely be getting more downloadable content, but at what price is unknown. If what Mike Griffith says is true, we could see people paying as much as the game itself just for downloadable content in the long-run.

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Operation Flashpoint 2 Designer Interview

Daniel — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:05:16 +0000

G4 Interviews Clive Lindop, Lead A.I. Designer at Codemasters, creators of the upcoming Operation Flashpoint 2.

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Game Rentals Coming To Steam?

Daniel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:42:18 +0000

Several rumors have been floating around that Steam will begin offering game rentals to it’s users. According to one source, an upcoming Steam update will add this new functionality:

Games will be up for rent at varying time lengths.

Price points starting at $5.

More games to be added to rental list.

New category in Steam Store.

The source was unclear on whether this functionality was included in today’s (9-15-08) update, or whether another update will be delivered later today or later in the week. There is no sign of the rumored changes in the Steam Store at this point, but today’s update added a right-click “View game account” menu option for “subscription based games.” (whatever those are)

Update: It seems that last option mentioned is actually for subscription-based MMO games. Thanks Andy.

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WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Release Date

Daniel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:38:02 +0000

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has just been dated for November the 13th.

The Lich King invades stores on November 13th, 2008! Retailers throughout the world are accepting reservations now for the next epic chapter in the World of Warcraft experience – Wrath of the Lich King.

* Master the necromantic powers of the Death Knight - World of Warcraft’s first Hero class.
* Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.
* Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.
* Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.
* Engage in epic siege warfare, deploying mighty siege engines to lay waste to destructible buildings in your path.
* Transform your hero’s look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.
* Explore perilous new dungeons filled with some of the deadliest creatures — and greatest treasures — on Azeroth.
* And much, much more…

Pre-order WoW: Wrath of the Lich King

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What a Spore LAN Party Might Look Like

Daniel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:16:11 +0000

Apparently this is what a LAN party for Spore might look like. Is this the future of casual gaming?

Poor kids, they were limited to 3 installs

Flickr

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Limited Edition Red XBOX 360 Controller Revealed

Daniel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:00:31 +0000

Microsoft has just announced a limited edition red wireless XBOX 360 controller. Besides being Red, it boasts some ergonomic improvements and longer wireless range. (up to 30 feet)

The limited edition controller is set to be released on September 30th.

* Limited Edition red finish, with newly designed black accents
* Bundled with a Play & Charge Cable and matching red rechargeable battery pack
* 2.4GHz wireless technology with 30-foot range
* Use up to four controllers simultaneously on one console
* Integrated headset port for Xbox Live play
* Adjustable vibration feedback for longer battery life
* New left and right shoulder buttons are designed for ease of use
* Use the Xbox 360 Guide button to keep track of your friends, access your games and media, or power on and off your Xbox 360 console

XBOX 360 Red Wireless Controller

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Control Light Saber Using Your Wiimote in Upcoming Star Wars Game

Daniel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:08:56 +0000

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Crysis: Warhead to be Available on Steam

Daniel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:00:42 +0000

It looks like Crysis: Warhead is already showing up in the Steam Marketplace. The game will cost you $29.95, however, if you don’t have the original Crysis, you’ll be able to pick up both for $69.98.

The game will be available on September 17 in the US, and September 18 everywhere else.

You can preorder it right now through the Steam marketplace, however it doesn’t say if it will allow you to preload the game or not.

So much for GameStop CEO’s claim that digital distribution isn’t going anywhere, eh?

Minimum Specs
o Supported OS: Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft Vista
o Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista), Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista), AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or better
o Memory: 1.0 GB RAM (XP) or 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)
o Graphics: 256 MB
o Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or better
o DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c or 10
o Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible
o Hard Drive: 15GB

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Guitar Hero 4 Track List Revealed

Daniel — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:43:05 +0000

Activision has just released the full track list for Guitar Hero 4. It includes 86 built in tracks, plus another 16 downloadable songs. It’s main competitor, Rock Band 2, has about 84 songs built in.

1. 311 - “Beautiful Disaster”
2. 30 Seconds To Mars - “The Kill”
3. Airbourne - “Too Much Too Young”
4. The Allman Brothers Band - “Ramblin’ Man”
5. Anouk - “Good God”
6. The Answer - “Never Too Late”
7. At The Drive-In - “One Armed Scissor”
8. Beastie Boys - “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
9. Beatsteaks - “Hail to the Freaks”
10. Billy Idol - “Rebel Yell”
11. Black Label Society - “Stillborn”
12. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - “Weapon of Choice”
13. blink-182 - “Dammit”
14. Blondie - “One Way or Another”
15. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Hollywood Nights”
16. Bon Jovi - “Livin’ On A Prayer”
17. Bullet For My Valentine - “Scream Aim Fire”
18. Coldplay - “Shiver”
19. Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Up Around The Bend”
20. The Cult - “Love Removal Machine”
21. Dinosaur Jr. - “Feel The Pain”
22. The Doors - “Love Me Two Times”
23. Dream Theater - “Pull Me Under”
24. The Eagles - “Hotel California”
25. The Enemy - “Aggro”
26. Filter - “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
27. Fleetwood Mac - “Go Your Own Way”
28. Foo Fighters - “Everlong”
29. The Guess Who - “American Woman”
30. Hush Puppies - “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!”
31. Interpol - “Obstacle 1?
32. Jane’s Addiction - “Mountain Song”
33. Jimi Hendrix - “Purple Haze (Live)”
34. Jimi Hendrix - “The Wind Cries Mary”
35. Jimmy Eat World - “The Middle”
36. Joe Satriani - “Satch Boogie”
37. Kent - “Vinternoll2?
38. Korn - “Freak On A Leash”
39. Lacuna Coil - “Our Truth”
40. Lenny Kravitz - “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
41. Linkin Park - “What I’ve Done”
42. The Living End - “Prisoner of Society”
43. Los Lobos - “La Bamba”
44. Lost Prophets - “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”
45. Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”
46. Mars Volta - “L’Via L’Viaquez”
47. MC5’s Wayne Kramer - “Kick Out The Jams”
48. Metallica - “Trapped Under Ice”
49. Michael Jackson - “Beat It”
50. Modest Mouse - “Float On”
51. Motorhead - “Overkill”
52. Muse - “Assassin”
53. Negramaro - “Nuvole e Lenzuola”
54. Nirvana - “About a Girl (Unplugged)”
55. No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”
56. NOFX - “Soul Doubt”
57. Oasis - “Some Might Say”
58. Ozzy Osbourne - “Crazy Train”
59. Ozzy Osbourne - “Mr. Crowley”
60. Paramore - “Misery Business”
61. Pat Benatar - “Heartbreaker”
62. R.E.M. - “The One I Love”
63. Radio Futura - “Escuela De Calor”
64. Rise Against - “Re-Education Through Labor”
65. Sex Pistols - “Pretty Vacant”
66. Silversun Pickups - “Lazy Eye”
67. Smashing Pumpkins - “Today”
68. Steely Dan - “Do It Again”
69. Steve Miller Band - “The Joker”
70. Sting - “Demolition Man (Live)”
71. The Stone Roses - “Love Spreads”
72. Stuck In The Sound - “Toy Boy”
73. Sublime - “Santeria”
74. Survivor - “Eye of the Tiger”
75. System of a Down - “B.Y.O.B.”
76. Ted Nugent - “Stranglehold”
77. Ted Nugent’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
78. Tokio Hotel - “Monsoon”
79. Tool - “Parabola”
80. Tool - “Schism”
81. Tool - “Vicarious”
82. Trust - “Antisocial”
83. Van Halen - “Hot For Teacher”
84. Willie Nelson - “On The Road Again”
85. Wings - “Band on the Run”
86. Zakk Wylde’s Original Guitar Duel Recording

Downloadable content list:
1. Metallica - “That Was Just Your Life”
2. Metallica - “The End of the Line”
3. Metallica - “Broken, Beat & Scarred”
4. Metallica - “The Day That Never Comes”
5. Metallica - “All Nightmare Long”
6. Metallica - “Cyanide”
7. Metallica - “The Unforgiven III”
8. Metallica - “The Judas Kiss”
9. Metallica - “Suicide & Redemption”
10. Metallica - “My Apocalypse”
11. R.E.M - “Horse to Water”
12. R.E.M - “Man-Sized Wreath”
13. R.E.M - “Supernatural Superserious”
14. Smashing Pumpkins - “G.L.O.W.”
15. Smashing Pumpkins - “1979?
16. Smashing Pumpkins - “The Everlasting Gaze”

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Trumpet Hero

Daniel — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:40:49 +0000

Who said you couldn’t play along with real instruments in Rock Band?

How he did it:

I used the silent brass system, which allows you to play and have your sound come out of headphones, and I set the headphones up next to the mike.

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XBOX 360 Beats PS3 in August NPD Data

Daniel — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:50:40 +0000

Today NPD released their market data for the month of August. The Wii came in first, no surprise there. Microsoft managed to beat Sony by almost 10,000 units. The biggest software seller of the month was Madden, which took up the #1, 2, and 3 spots for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, respectively.

Hardware Unit Sales

* PlayStation 3 - 185.4K
* PSP - 253.0K
* PS2 - 144.1K
* 360 - 195.2K
* Wii - 453.0K
* Nintendo DS - 518.3K

Software

1. Madden NFL 09 (360, EA)
2. Madden NFL 09 (PS3, EA)
3. Madden NFL 09 (PS2, EA)
4. Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo)
5. Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo)
6. Wii Play (Wii, Nintendo)
7. Soulcalibur IV (360, Namco)
8. Too Human (360, Microsoft)
9. Madden NFL 09 (Wii, EA)
10. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS, Activision Blizzard)

Dollar Sales Aug-07 Aug-08 CHG YTD Aug 07 YTD Aug 08 CHG
Video Games $994.76M $1.08M 9% $8.02B $10.55B 32%
Video Games Hardware $384.59M $394.53M 3% $3.11B $3.73B 20%
Video Games Software $489.06M $550.67M 13% $3.80B $5.45B 43%
Video Game Accessories $121.11M $137.33M 13% $1.11B $1.38B 24%

Via videogaming247

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Left 4 Dead Demo Confirmed

Daniel — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:44:37 +0000

Today Gabe Newell, head at Valve, confirmed a demo Valve’s upcoming zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead, for the PC and XBOX 360. The demo will include both online co-operative play, and a single player mode. The demo will take place in the hospital level that was shown off to the press earlier this year.

“We will be releasing demos for both the Xbox and for the PC. I don’t know what the date is for release on that, though. I think it’s going to contain the first part of one of the campaigns. I think it’ll probably be Hospital but I’m not sure. That’s a decision that Doug Lombardi is making,” said Newell to VideoGamer.

Newell said no word on the specific release date of the demo, but Left 4 Dead has been confirmed for release on November 21. That said, we should expect the demo coming out anywhere from mid October to early November.

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