#activision
Robert "Bobby" Kotick, Activision CEO and widely reviled video game exec, had unkind things to say about one of his company's biggest rivals, Electronic Arts, blasting his competitor's "culture," its games, and claiming "great people don't really want to work there." More »
Gamasutra reports that defunct studio Realtime Worlds' Project MyWorld was purchased by Kimble Operations, which is apparently linked to former Realtime Worlds chairman Ian Hetherington. Gama was informed of the purchase by Tahir Rashid, former lead artist on MyWorld.
It was previously reported by Develop that an "anonymous American company" purchased Project MyWorld, which could technically be true depending on the structure of Kimble Operations. Project MyWorld is pretty much the only thing to survive Realtime Worlds' collapse, as MMO APB was shut down and all its employees have moved on.
#legal
A panel comprised of some of the nation's pre-eminent jurists, legal scholars and court observers pondered California's violent video games statute, which goes before the Supreme Court Nov. 2, and concluded the high court will decide 6-3 for California. More »
Hey, you EU guys folks not have Netflix over there, but you've got the next best thing: Sky Player. Eurogamer reports that Kinect voice commands -- one of the most lauded pieces of functionality in the upcoming Microsoft peripheral -- are coming to the Sky Player streaming service. Even better, the two will play nice right at Kinect launch in Europe, on November 10.
According to Eurogamer, users will be able to use voice commands to pause, rewind, fast-forward, play and stop, much like the integration detailed back during E3, though there's currently no official word from Sky Player. We're currently reaching out and will let you know what we hear back.
#playstationnetwork
PlayStation 3 owners will soon be able to buy PlayStation Plus membership at retail, with gift cards granting access to Sony's premium PlayStation Network now deploying to stores in North America. More »
Casual game (and class 3 electronic pharmaceutical) developer PopCap apparently had a beta of a RPG that "felt like a turn-based version of Diablo that was very cute." PopCap's creative director, Jason Kapalka, recently told Develop in an interview about this latest threat to global productivity. Thankfully (for humanity), Kapalka explained the game's complexity spiraled "out of control," stopped being casual and was dropped.
The game now slumbers in PopCap's "design review" dossier, awaiting the day some adventurous designer solves the mystery of making it casual and unleashes its fury upon the masses. Kapalka expressed that every couple of months PopCap looks back on the game "because it was really fun," but that there are a dozen or so games in the same position. "These games are never 100 percent dead," Kapalka said. Diablo never is. Never.
Well here’s a big shocker. Sledgehammer Games is working on something for the Call of Duty series. This is something we’ve known for a long time now, but their official site has been updated to reveal that the game is indeed a first-person shooter. Looks like Activision doesn’t want the series messed [...]
This news comes in from reader Eric…
This is the preorder box at Kmart that you can buy for five bucks and the register will print you a 15 dollar gaming coupon to use toward Epic Mickey or another game! Not only that, but this week hey have a sale where if you buy and Wii [...]
#activision
Treyarch's beloved addition of undead to the Call of Duty series looks to continue in the next entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Not exactly a surprise, but an returning feature apparently confirmed today by the game's strategy guide. More »
#screengrab
The makers of Monday Night Combat were taking suggestions for official wallpapers; unsurprisingly, Pitgirl - the game's booty-shaking NPC - figured prominently. They're still taking requests and have turned it into a contest. More »
Following the inexplicable trend of movies based on video games getting totally derailed before they even start filming, it seems the once-certain production of Kane and Lynch has become ... decidedly less so. LA Times reports that planned director Patrick Alessandrin (District 13: Ultimatum) is no longer behind the reins of the movie. As a result, the movie's shooting schedule, planned to start next month, has been delayed.
A representative from Millennium Films confirmed that "the director has not been chosen" and that the film's "start date is TBD." If you're part of the ever-burgeoning community of high-profile film directors who read this site (what up, Spiels?), consider this your invitation to step in and save the day. That is, if you think you can handle the raw thespianic force of a Willis/Foxx collaboration.
#clips
Blood Drive, Activision's quick to market roadkill driving game, was officially unveiled earlier this month for release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this November. How does it look? Still like Carmageddon and Twisted Metal, now with zombie strippers. More »
Two Worlds 2 was supposed to launch ... well, it was originally going to release the same same week as Halo: Reach, but then it wised up and moved to October, and now it seems publisher SouthPeak feels it best to just move it to January 2011. The publisher plans to take the extra time for "heavyweight quality assurance" so that the title is "absolutely flawless" for its launch.
The new date is officially only for North America, with an updated release date for the UK, Australia and New Zealand coming "in the near future."
I almost didn't dare write a preview of the XBLA version of Super Meat Boy. When I approached the demo kiosk at Fantastic Arcade, I started playing the level the previous player had abandoned, and then proceeded to die -- about a hundred times. That's not hyperbole. If anything, that's a conservative estimate. I failed over, and over, and over again. "Well, that wouldn't make for a good preview," I thought, reflecting on the humiliating performance that I just wrote about in this preview.
Later, after a brief mourning period, I returned to the game and started the demo from the first level. With the advantage of a bit more experience traversing Super Meat Boy's earlier levels, and having gotten a feel for the dash-jump physics, I was able to triumph over adversity and complete that one extremely difficult level. (Bonus: I could deliver my impressions of the game based on more than just the first three quarters of a single level played repeatedly.)
My opinion? Super Meat Boy is an ideal game for people who became addicted to the extreme platforming challenges found in N+ ... unless they're squeamish about blood.
#breaking
Just one week before it was scheduled to hit shelves, EA Sports on Monday indefinitely delayed NBA Elite 11 for the Xbox 360 and PS3, indicating that quality concerns raised by the demo's dismal showing necessitated the postponement. More »
#psp
Charge up the PSP and download the latest firmware in anticipation of the next (potentially) great portable God of War game, which you can play a teensy bit of starting tomorrow. More »
