Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: Activision

Showing posts with label Activision. Show all posts

2010/05/16

Raven Could Be Making Call of Duty Titles [Rumblings]

Some might say that Activision is in crisis. Their “A Team”, Infinity Ward, has been emptied over the past month or two since Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired, and the legal fallout came to light.

Activision has three Call of Duty games that we know of. There’s Black Ops, in development at Treyarch, and there’s an untitled CoD game by Sledgehammer, which sources say could be something like ‘Future Warfare’, ‘Advanced Warfare’, ‘Secret Warfare’, or ‘Space Warfare’, according to recent discoveries based on domain and trademark registrations by Activision. The third is obviously Modern Warfare 3.

There’s a rumour floating around the internet that Raven, another studio owned by the publisher, is going to be making DLC map packs for Black Ops.

But the question that everyone wants to know is: who the hell is going to work on Modern Warfare 3? Bungie certainly made it clear that they don’t want to.

Now, I must be honest when I’ve made clear my impressions of Raven titles in general. They’re good – just not great. Look at Wolfenstein or Quake 4 to get my drift. But their latest effort, Singularity, when released, might be the telling factor in whether it would be a good move to potentially let them handle Modern Warfare – Activision’s most profitable franchise.

----

Sources:

Rumor: Raven Working on New Call of Duty [Shacknews]

Trademark and Domain registrations [Superannuation]

2010/05/09

Call of Duty: The War Collection for Sale at Amazon

Something was witnessed on Amazon as well as GameStop just the other day, and that thing was Call of Duty: The War Collection. It’s a pack which includes most of the WW II themed Call of Duty titles that have been released over the years. It has Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, and Call of Duty: World at War. It’s lacking the first Call of Duty though.

Call of Duty 2 was developed by Infinity Ward and released in 2005, but the other two were developed by Treyarch, while IW moved on to develop the Modern Warfare series of games. Treyarch is now working on Call of Duty: Black Ops.

This bundles seems to be for the Xbox 360 only at the moment, with a PS3 and PC version speculated to arrive later on, but it might just be an exclusive. The release date is scheduled to be somewhere in June 2010, and should sell for $59.99.

Sources: Amazon - CVG

2010/05/07

New Bungie IP Possibly an Action RPG, not Call of Duty

Recently Bungie signed a ten year publishing and distribution deal with the antichrist of video games publishers, Activision - even despite all the legal issues going on between it and Infinity Ward.

Something caught my eye the other day, and that was their new IP that they’re working on other than Halo Reach will actually be something new, for the first time in who knows how long. And it’s rumoured to be an Action RPG, similar in style to Mass Effect or even Deus Ex.

The studio is currently looking for a lead writer for the storyline of the game.

"Can you inspire artists to create whole worlds and races of creatures with a few, quality keystrokes? Your words will help define Bungie's next game universe."

It looks as though they heeded the words of the all knowledgeable Randy Pitchford a while back, who urged Bungie to do something other than Halo for a change.

Bungie has made it clear though that this new title will not be Call of Duty, even despite the terrible situation involving Activision “shooting the race horse” that was IW, putting the Call of Duty, and Modern Warfare, series in jeopardy.

In related news, the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta is now live, and it can be accessed through the Halo 3: ODST disc, if you have it. The download “weight” is 1.15 GB. The beta runs until May 19.

"The download process may be subject to extended wait times. Server load is expected to be extremely high, especially during the first few hours and days of Beta availability. Please bear with us and stay tuned to Bungie.net for news and information."

----

Sources:

New Bungie IP to be an action RPG, suggests job listing [VG247]
Halo: Reach beta is go, go, go! [VG247]
Bungie: 'No interest' in tackling Call Of Duty [CVG]

2010/05/04

Call of Duty: Black Ops Official Reveal, Trailer

The future of Infinity Ward is shaky, what with all the legal actions, lawsuits, and what not flying around, with some analysts saying the studio will be closed this year. This obviously must impact the future of Modern Warfare 3. Great going Activision.

Another worst kept secret in the world right now. Many people thought that this latest offering from Treyarch, the “B team”, would be called Call of Duty: Vietnam, even until just a few days ago. But it turns out after the official unveiling just recently, that Call of Duty: Black Ops is the name of the game – just like some other rumours suggested.

And possible locations that will be present in the game have also been revealed, with some sources saying Cuba, South America, the Arctic, Iran, and the jungles of Vietnam will be on display for players to run around in. The story has been said to feature black ops missions from WW II right through to present day. This will be the first Treyarch-developed CoD title to venture outside of WW II. Their last effort was World at War in 2008.

“We at Treyarch are excited to reveal our latest development – Call of Duty: Black Ops! Be sure to head over to CallOfDuty.com/blackops as more details begin to unfold! Follow @JD_2020 and @Treyarch on Twitter for the latest news & discussions regarding Black Ops.”

"We can’t wait for our community to experience Call of Duty: Black Ops. We have focused our entire studio on this game, with dedicated multiplayer, single-player and co-op teams creating the most intense, gripping and riveting experience possible for our fans on all fronts."

An official website has been set up for the game, with a release date set for 9 November 2010 – a year after Modern Warfare 2.

Retailer GAME says the following:

"Call of Duty Black Ops is the next instalment in the thrilling Call of Duty franchise. Packing an amazing singleplayer story that will see you fight across the globe in locations such as Cuba, Vietnam and the Arctic."

"Now you will witness the birth of the Elite Special Forces and take part in off-the-record missions using unconventional weaponry to get the job done!"

The game also has preorder pages at Amazon, for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

Even a trailer for the game has been released, with some websites dissecting it to squeeze more information out of it.

They say that the game will be one big flashback, with the person telling the tale being tortured. The trailer shows snowy environments [the Arctic, or Siberia perhaps?], UH-1A Huey helicopters [made famous in the Vietnam War], some guns like a silenced Steyr Aug, a parachuting mission similar to games in the Medal of Honor series, and the most interesting of all: an SR71 Blackbird with the pilot in space suit, flying in sub-orbit.

----

Source: callofduty.com/blackops [official website]

2010/03/03

Fan-Made King’s Quest Sequel Killed by Activision

“But why?! It’s just not fair!”

Activision has made a lot of people very angry over the past year or two, especially just in the past few days. Lately they fired two head guys from Infinity Ward, and another evil deed that the company has committed is shutting down a fan-made sequel in the legendary King’s Quest series, called King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining or just The Silver Lining later on.

King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining or King’s Quest 9 for those of you who can’t comprehend roman numerals was a fan-made, unofficial sequel to the series, whose last title was King’s Quest VIII: Mask Of Eternity, no doubt, back in about 1998; more than ten years ago.

The game was all ready in hot water a while back in 2005 when Vivendi sent the developers, Phoenix Online Studios, a COD or cease and desist order. Then later the game became known as just The Silver Lining, as Vivendi granted them a non-commercial licence after fans lashed out, which means that they were allowed to continue development, but not allowed to make any money by selling it for instance.

But now Activision are the new holders of the IP by Sierra, and they pretty much shut them down, refusing to give them a non-commercial licence or renewing the old one, and ended eight years of hard work. The project started back in 2002, possibly earlier. Some say it was as far back as 2000. The game was apparently set to see a release this year, with the first episode in a planned five episode release format (see Half-Life 2 Episodes).

A few years back, I remember playing remakes of King’s Quest I and II by Tierra, later AGD Interactive, also just a couple of fans messing around in AGS (adventure game studio) that wanted to modernise the series. After those two, Infamous Adventures remade King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human. The remake of King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella is still under development at Magic Mirror Games. King's Quest V has a remake in King's Quest V - The Text Adventure.

I even have the original King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride lying around somewhere.

It’s sad, and it might even make you angry, but it’s the law, unfortunately. Activision hold the rights to the franchise, but they’re too busy milking Call of Duty and Modern Warfare for all they’re worth to consider having someone make another game in the KQ series.

Just goes to show that you should ask beforehand, I guess. I bet all other mod-makers and devs making fan-made games belonging to another series are quaking in their boots now.

----

Source: TSL-Game.com

Activision Fires Infinity Ward Heads, Talks About Future Call of Duty Games

The big news that has swarmed all over the net lately is that there’s been a feud of sorts between Activision and Infinity Ward, the developers of Modern Warfare 2, and most other Call of Duty games.

Reportedly the President, Jason West, and CEO Vince Zampella, of the studio have been fired for "breaches of contract and insubordination”. Security guards escorted people out of the office too. The LinkedIn and Facebook pages of both guys confirms the rumours, and have left IW. Some rumours suggest that it was due to IW not being paid royalties from Activision.

Steve Pearce and Steve Ackrich are the new interim heads at the company.

The infamous Bobby Kotick of Activision has apparently also held a meeting or two with the remaining staff. People all over are not only attacking Activision, but reckon that the situation is far from resolved.

But the development of Call of Duty games goes on, as there will be two expansions or DLC packs for Modern Warfare 2, set for release this year, a Treyarch developed game supposedly set in Vietnam, and now another Call of Duty game said to be an action-adventure game, developed by Sledgehammer games, formed by the heads of Visceral Games (developers of Dead Space), Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. And that still leaves another Call of Duty game probably coming next year, which must be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, by IW, if things settle down within the company.

----

Source: G4tv

2010/02/26

Mark Beaumont of Capcom Passes Away

Just the other day, Mark Beaumont, the COO (chief operating officer) of Capcom, passed way “suddenly”. He died of a heart attack.

Capcom issue the following statement:

"Our COO and dear friend, Mark Beaumont, passed away this morning. This sudden loss has left us with deep sadness.

"Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will remember him for his humor, passion and commitment to Capcom and our industry. He was a great leader and visionary and his spirit will carry on in everything that we do. Please join us in memory of Mark."

I must admit that I hadn’t heard of this man, but it seems as though he was a very respected figure in the industry, having had high positions at multiple companies like Midway, Sony, Time Warner, Activision, and Atari. Even greats like John Romero and Ed Boon left tweets on their twitter accounts showing their respect.

----

Source: [1] MCUVK

2010/01/15

Video Game Delays: Splinter Cell: Conviction, Ruse, Singularity, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Another year starts, and just as expected, the delays are coming in. It’s been said that Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Conviction has been delayed again, as has Ruse. For Conviction, instead of February 2010, it’ll now be April – for the time being.

And Singularity, a title by Raven and published by Activision, has also been pushed back later into 2010, while Star Wars: The Old Republic has been sent to 2011 without any supper.

Oh, and by the way, another title by the name of Elemental: War of Magic is going to come out later on in 2010 now. That’s also a delay right there.

I must say that Singularity in particular looks quite good, and more original than most Raven titles. And that’s saying a lot.

----

Ubisoft

Ubisoft Delays Splinter Cell Conviction, RUSE

Star Wars: The Old Republic Delayed Until 2011?

Singularity delayed again?

Elemental: War of Magic now due in third quarter 2010

2009/09/25

Déjà vu: Wolfenstein Pulled out from Germany

Wolfenstein, the latest in the legendary series, has been recalled from German stores. Stores have been ordered to take down any and all copies of the game in stock. And this was all allegedly because of one swastika that was spotted in the game, and this was missed by Activision. That little thing is what caused all this? Well, any Nazi symbols are illegal in Germany nowadays, apparently.

Of course, as I’ve heard before, it was the Nazis who started the war, not the Germans. Some German readers who have commented on the story at various websites have more or less said, "It's more complicated than that. You're not German, so you don't understand."

Yeah, we do. You lost the war!

This situation has occurred before. Remember Wolfenstein 3D? The game was banned in Germany due to the swastikas and "Horst Wessel Lied" being the theme song. People still played it there though, although not legally, but referred to it under the name "Hundefelsen 4C".

When the game was ported to different platforms, the dogs were replaced with giant rats (which was alluded to in Spear of Destiny), the swastikas and such were replaced, and Hitler was replaced with the “Schtadtmeister”.

Anyway, about Wolfenstein: Planet Wolfenstein notes that it's not known whether a new version will be made and sent there to replace it. The game hasn't sold extremely well (it certainly didn't outsell Madden 10, so you won't get your money back), and teams at Raven and Endrant that worked on the game have been laid off. This happened right after the game's release.

Might as well not bother then. In fact some people question why Raven bothered in the first place. I liked the game, though. Thank goodness I don't live in Germany. No offence...

Sources:

Wolfenstein Recalled in Germany - UPDATED
German Wolfenstein PC Recall
http://www.planetwolfenstein.com/
Wolfenstein Sells Just Over 100K Combined
Latest Wolfenstein pulled from German store shelves
http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=5982811

2009/09/16

Moron of the Moment: Bobby Kotick

The first time I did something like this was when I posted about Yoshiyuko Tomino, who claims that games are evil.

Now I move on to the man I really wanted to debut in this series. He is truly evil according to some, having earned some demonic nicknames over the past few months. He is the Dark Lord of evil Publisher Activion: Bobby Kotick.

Both Bobby Psykotick and Activision have gotten on the wrong side of gamers and celebs lately. Here are a few reasons why he’s won this award, Moron of the Moment:

He’s bragged about how much he earns ($ 15 million last year).
He’s detailed how to rip gamers off by making them buy more for just one game.
He has said he would raise the prices of video games higher if he could (as if they’re not expensive as it is).
He has claimed to know what gamers want by saying that we only want more and more sequels and not new IPs.
He has brazenly stated that he wants to take the fun out of making video games.
Activision threatened to stop supporting Sony consoles.
He has also said that he might stop supporting consoles as a whole as he wants gamers to play through TV without console support.
He has revealed his plans for world domination- at least as far as video games triumphing over other media goes.
He’s only in the business for the money and nothing else, except perhaps spreading his evil influence.

Quotes from Bobby Kotick:

“people are happy with existing franchises, provided you innovate within them.”

"We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

“In the last cycle of videogames you spent $50 on a game, played it and took it back to the shop for credit,” he told attendees. “Today, we’ll you a $100. You might add a microphone or drums, you might buy two or three expansions packs, different types of music. Over the life of your ownership you’ll probably buy around 25 additional song packs in digital downloads. So, what used to be a $50 sale is a $500 sale today."

“And the best of all margins – the 25 percent operating margin business – has the potential as we can see with World of Warcraft to be a 50 percent operating margin business. What used to be a low 20s return on invested capital business is now growing to a plus 40 percent return on invested capital business.”

"We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

“I view the medium as having the potential to eclipse film and television,”

"the company is not interested in games that "don't have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million franchises"

"I try to promote an atmosphere of skepticism, pessimism, and fear in my company."

Activision recently got on the bad side of Courtney Love, former Nirvana band-mates, and fans, by using Kurt Cobain’s likeness in Guitar Hero 5. Love signed a contract which stipulated what the use of Kurt’s likeness would be, but Activision has apparently abused this agreement. Love says she’s going to sue the $h1t out of Activision. I hope she does. Then at least that would be a big chunk out of Psykotick’s pocket.

2009/04/06

Blizzard developing a new Redneck Rampage?

According to Kotaku, there are rumours going around that since Blizzard has the rights to the Redneck Rampage brand now. Apparently these rumours started at IncGamers, who checked up on some things and found that Blizzard is listed as the one under control. The plot gets thicker when you think that Activision and Blizzard merged last year. Apparently some Blizzard employees worked on the original games too.

The Atomic Oracle says that this isn’t very likely and is just a rumour. Blizzard is into the whole Warcraft, Starcaft, Diablo and the like. Blizzard is obviously more MMO than FPS. When was the last time Blizzard ever made an FPS anyway?

http://www.incgamers.com/News/15845/BlizzardWorkingonNewRedneckRampageShooter

2009/03/21

Games and violence…against animals?

Okay, so now gamers are not only racists (Resident Evil 5), and psychotic killers (every FPS shooter game), but now they’re sadists and animal haters too.

Breanni Lucci, who is the president of a private high school’s Animal Rights Club, started a petition after seeing her brother shooting dogs in Call of Duty: World at War. Apparently, more than 100 classmates have supported the petition which she will send to Activision.

The last time we had something like this was when Nintendo demanded that id software had to take the attack dogs out of Wolfenstein 3D for the Super NES version, which were replaced with giant rats.

The killing of dogs isn’t the main aim of the game, as you have to take on the axis forces of Germany and Japan in the game. These were also violent dogs that could kill the player, and so if you were to leave them alone, they would either be gunned down by someone else or they would kill you. That’s self-defence in my book.

Once again, clueless people who don’t play games rush to conclusions and act without thinking. Let’s hope Ms. Lucci doesn’t take up politics and we end up with a Jane Thompson on our hands.