If Activision were a pro-wrestler, it would be the greatest heel of all time. Better than Ted DiBiase, better than Hollywood Hogan—it would even be better than Anderson Silva and his fantastic manager, Ed Soares. (Not that UFC is pro-wrestling, but some of the same dynamics are at work there.) The amount of heat this company generates over the most insignificant, throwaway… → Read More
You’ll recall that the two bigwigs at Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella, left the studio a few months back under, well, insane circumstances. It’s basically he said, she said, only involving lawsuits, hired goons, and Activision, the least popular video game publisher according to a recent GameFaqs poll. Yes, I just cited a GameFaqs poll. West and Zampella didn’t like the way Activision… → Read More
So what to make of this latest Call of Duty rumor? The seventh game in the series will be named Call of Duty: Black Ops, and will take place between the end of World War II and the present day. It won’t necessarily “be” a Vietnam War game, but will have missions that take place all over the world. Remember: it’s being developed by Treyarch (i.e. not Infinity Ward), the same dudes who developed… → Read More
I’m sorry, but I’m absolutely loving this Infinity Ward-Activision brouhaha. Here you have one of the most respected developers out there at odds with a publisher that must seriously have no idea what it’s doing. If Activision thinks it can slap the Call of Duty name on any ol’ game, made by any ol’ developer, ha! People are dumb, but they’re not that dumb? → Read More
Let’s go back to the year 2005. That autumn, RedOctane released a game called Guitar Hero. It was pretty successful, so it spawned a sequel, Guitar Hero II. That came out on the fall of 2006. One year later, Rock Band first popped up. Then, in the span of around two years, video game publishers lost their minds, and published approximaely 800 music rhythm games. Now you have a situation where not… → Read More
Hot damn, you guys. Hot damn. Good Old Games — GOG.com — is now selling old Activision games for six bucks a pop. And you know what Activision owns? All the old Sierra games. → Read More
The rumor: Activision is looking to bring DJ Hero to mobile devices. You can assume the iPhone would be among the platforms supported. The facts: DJ Hero didn’t do too well, but Activision put a hell of a lot of money into it, so it wants to make as much of that back as possible. → Read More
There will be a DJ Hero 2. Yes, I realize that saying that—Activision will make a sequel to one of its games—is akin to saying earthquakes are bad, or that candy is delicious, but there you have it. The sequel was confirmed as part of a contest. → Read More
<img src="http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/umabanana.jpg"Spore was the most pirated game of 2008, but that needs to be viewed through the lens of EA wrapping the legitimate, retail copy of the game with all sorts of DRM nonsense that made it unplayable under certain situations. You know, like putting the disc in your drive and expecting it to work. It was easier… → Read More
Thank you, PC Gamer How’s that Modern Warfare 2 boycott going? Well, judging by this screenshot, it seems that many of y’all were either bluffing, or simply couldn’t resist the temptation to, as Rock Paper Scissor put it the other day, Put The Cursor Over the Man’s Face. Boycotts only work when, you know, you follow through with your threats… → Read More
Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 racked up $310 million in sales across the U.S. and UK during the first 24 hours of availability. That makes it the biggest video game launch ever. Hooray for war simulators! → Read More
Hope you peeped that youtube video when we told you about it earlier, because Activition has fired off a cease and desist order on the video of the aimbot and wallhack being used. They claim it’s a copyright infringement, but there’s a whole lot more video out there that they are just ignoring. Sounds like someone is trying to hide their dirty laundry. → Read More
You know what day it is! Herein lies my usual review round-up (see yesterday’s preview), starring Modern Warfare 2. Right now I’ll highlight the good in the game, and later today I’ll highlight the bad. Very exciting, yes. → Read More
Here’s comes another DJ Hero story. Activision called the game’s launch “successful” at a conference call yesterday, saying that the game represents a “first step toward diversifying beyond rock” and into other genres, like hip hop and electronic music. In other words, the game’s soft sales aren’t necessarily a cause for alarm (if you were ever concerned in the first place). → Read More
Famous rock band No Doubt has sued Activision over the use of its avatars in the game Guitar Hero 5. No Doubt says that the deal it signed with Activision only permitted the avatars to be used when playing No Doubt songs. The problem is that Activision has it set up that you can play any song in the game with the No Doubt avatars. That I’m even writing about this is rather depressing. → Read More
While there’s no hard numbers, an analyst over at Capital Markets has called the sales of DJ Hero “modest.” Usually you want phrases like “brisk pace” and “exceeding expectations” when you release big ticket games like DJ Hero, but it doesn’t seem to be happening here. → Read More
As I cleverly remarked in the official CrunchGear chat room, that a video game leaks a few days before its release is par for the course. When the biggest video game of the year leaks a full week before its release date, it’s worth noting. So that’s what I’m doing right now: Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 has leaked. It’s available where you usually find such things. → Read More
Look at the AP, trying to stir up controversy where none exists. I’m sure by now you’ve seen the leaked Modern Warfare 2 footage (the video is down right now) that shows a terrorist situation inside an airport. The AP (and HuffPo) is making a big deal out of the fact that you can shoot civilians inside the airport. And? Are they trying to go with that weak argument, “Oh, violent video games make… → Read More
Interesting note regarding DJ Hero, where “interesting” means “potentially bad news.” One of those fancy analyst types, someone at Cowen and Company, has slashed sales expectations by a little more than 50 percent. That’s nothing to brush aside if you’re Activision. → Read More
Oh, look, video of Modern Warfare 2 has leaked. (I’m still not sure if it’s called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or simply Modern Warfare 2. Go figure.) It was taken at a retailer convention in Las Vegas. → Read More
Autobots, roll out!
The first batch of DLC for Activision and Luxoflux’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is slated for an August 27 launch for the Xbox 360 (800 MS points) and PS3 ($9.99). The entire DLC list is detailed below but the quick and dirty version is as follows: eight new playable characters, three new character skins, three new multiplayer maps and a “Expert” level for… → Read More
After it was semi-leaked last week that Tony Hawk’s Ride would reach British shores on November 20, Activision has confirmed that date and the NA launch date of November 17. No word on price, though. via Kotaku → Read More
Waiting for Activision to drop launch details on Tony Hawk: Ride? I hope you live in the US, UK or Germany because if you don’t then you’re going to have to wait until 2010 to get your feet-on this game. Sucks to be outside those three countries if you’re waiting on Ride. Still no word on a firm launch date. via Kotaku → Read More
Dang. I now know to put aside $200 for the Renegade Edition. Pre-order DJ Hero for all three major consoles and get it in time for Halloween. Xbox edition [Gamestop] PS3 edition [Gamestop] Wii edition [Gamestop] → Read More
Ooh la la. I guess I know what I’m saving up for later this year. While we’ve known about a special edition Eminem and Jay-Z DJ Hero for some time, it wasn’t until this morning that we finally got to see what it would actually look. In fact, during a private a demo of the game a few weeks back I actually saw (and played) one of the custom made white turntables that RedOctane made… → Read More
Order now while you can. $150 will get you a gaggle of MW2 goodies including the night vision goggles. Ships for both Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 10. Watch the unboxing here. Amazon → Read More
Activision and Luxoflux would announce new DLC for T:ROTF on the day my review goes live. D’oh! Over TEN new multiplayer characters including ultimate fan favorites such as G1 Starscream and movie favorites like Sideswipe. Three all-new multiplayer maps. Play new characters in both the Autobot and Decepticon single player campaigns. New Expert difficulty mode with a fresh set of leaderboards… → Read More
I’ve heard good things about Activision’s Prototype, but was never sent a review copy even though I’ve received other titles from the publisher for review in the past. Currently reviewing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (preview here) for the Xbox 360. Not a bad game, but I have some gripes with it. Anyway, Prototype is the featured Video Games Deal of the Day over at Amazon. You can… → Read More
How much would you be willing to pay for DJ Hero? The latest news or rumors or whatever you want to call it is that UK retailer ShopTo was apparently told by Activision that the MSRP of the game will be £107.99, or just shy of $180. That includes the turntable, of course. → Read More
It’s almost Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (aka Megan Fox on an IMAX screen) time! Sadly, I missed the preview they held last night in NYC, which I’m extremely heartbroken over, but I’ll pay to see the movie regardless. Anyway, Activision is now shipping the game companion and I’m pretty excited to play it after having previewed it two months prior. Mostly, I’m just excited for the… → Read More
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