Bobby. OH Bobby. Bobby Kotick, I’m not gonna yell at you. I can’t blame you. I want to, but I can’t. Like I can’t blame Roy Williams for 14 losses in one season.
Note to Bobby: Do Not Emulate
But like Roy, you’re responsible for what happens on your ship, Bobby. You are. And you just let two of the top boys on your team walk out the door, and you know they’re walking straight to the other team, and there aren’t any transfer regulations, and let me assure you, Mr. West and Mr. Zampella are elligible. And they’ll play, and you’ll be awfully lucky if they don’t make something to break your new “high-margin digital online” COD action-adventure in half.
We reported earlier this week about Infinity Ward studio heads, Jason West and Vince Zampella, being fired by Activision. For anyone who has been following this story, it should be no surprise that both men are now suing Activision.
Having been let go before Activision was due to give them a royalty payment, West and Zampella claim that Activision breached its contract and then “seized control of the Infinity Ward studio.” “Activision has refused to honor the terms of its agreements and is intentionally flouting the fundamental public policy of this State (California) that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned,” alleges the pair’s lawyer.
G4tv.com’s Patrick Klepek is reporting that a “tense” situation is brewing at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward. Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly met with Activision yesterday morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward staff members since. Based on some information that has been surfacing throughout the night, it appears both men have been let go from the company.
A screen shot surfaced from Infinity Ward CTO Jason West’s Facebook page at Kotaku with the status update “Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed.” I can confirm from a source that’s friends with West that update did actually come from West’s account. West also updated his Linkedin profile to appears to reflect a change in employment.
“President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)”
At 12.01 midnight GMT on the 10th November, HMV, Game and select supermarkets opened their doors to the hordes of eager fans aching to get their hands on Activision’s latest block buster Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Sam Gibbs, representing Pixelated Geek, was on hand at HMV in London’s Trocadero to cover the carnage. With just under 1000 people expected, security was tight with a full team of door men were there to keep the piece. Competition winners were also on hand to collect their swag and of course get their hands on the game.
HMV laid on a full squad of military personnel complete with two army Land Rovers with which people, including myself, posed for shots (sorry again I just couldn’t resist).
First in the door was Chris from Surrey who had been queuing there since 1.30 am and managed to get his hands on MW2 at about 12.30 meaning he was one dedicated fan having queued a full 23 hours on the streets of central London. His hearty devotion to the game won him some favour with HMV who took care of him shipping him out with no less than three Prestige kits (a total sum of £360’s worth).
Shout out to Mr. Lai and Mr. Wood for braving the cold with me
As all keen FPS gamers should know by now, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 launches tomorrow, 10 November, ending the social lives of a lot of gamers across the globe for a couple of months. Activision, deciding that the follow up to the wildly popular COD4 MW deserved the red carpet treatment and held a launch event with all the trimmings in London’s Leicester Square, the home to many a film premier. The Vue cinema in the main square was the venue with hands on with the game on the big screen, a VIP party and even a surprise concert to entertain a lucky few.
For the hard core fan however, the action was already building at the Trocadero HMV where a massive queue of just under 1000 or so eager gamers had already formed. Check back later for some coverage of the action at HMV including a guy who had queued a full 23 hours on the streets of London just to be first in line and a boat load of military action.
Shout out to Mr. Lai and Mr. Wood for braving the cold with me
We all saw this coming. The next step in Blizzards’ plot to take over the world, or at least your salary. Blizzard micro-transactions using their new Battle.net platform. Today Blizzard has added 2 new items to their online store for World of Warcraft players. Two new in-game pets. A mini Kel’Thuzad and Pandaren Monk for $10 each.
Some people are acting like this micro-transaction thing is new to WoW when in fact, it’s not. It’s just presented in a different way. Instead of going through the official World of Warcraft site, it goes through Battle.net. Blizzard already has a bunch of paid for services like server transfer, name changing, sex changes, race changes and faction changes.
Are any of our readers planning on buying one or both of these new in-game pets? Or are you one of those than can resist these two new cute vanity items.
I’m a big fan of Mash-Ups. I acted like a gitty little schoolgirl when I saw and heard Jay-Z perform live with Linkin Park. I still love it when I find great mash-ups on YouTube. Then I heard about a game called DJ Hero that will let me act like I know how to mash-up songs and I just went nuts. After seeing the demo played on stage at E3, I knew that I was going to get the game. This was even before I saw any tracks revealed from the game. Now, the full list has surfaced on the internets and I cannot wait for this to get into my living room already. To see all 95 mashed-up tracks, go past the break.
Over at the Activision booth, they demoed DJ Hero. Not knowing anything about the game except for the turntable, I was impressed. I’m a big fan of music mash-ups like Linkin Park and Jay-Z’s Collision Course (don’t judge me). So, a game with this type of music, instantly got my attention. At first, the scratching and switch of the tracks using the crossfader got me confused. But just like any new game, it just takes some time and practice to get used to it. In the second part of the video, you’ll see that if you have a Guitar Hero guitar controller, you can also use that for 2 player fun. But there is only 10 special tracks you can play with both the Guitar Hero guitar and the DJ hero turntable.
The rumors from before are true and I don’t think it’ll make a real DJ, like our blogger Fillmatic, happy. I don’t think it’ll make most people happy. I mean look at the remixed songs that are coming with the game:
“Feel Good Inc.” (Gorillaz) vs “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye)
“Jayou” (Jurassic 5) vs “Rockit” (Herbie Hancock)
“Bustin’ Loose” (Chuck Brown) vs “Time of the Season” (The Zombies, DJ Shadow Mix)
“All Apologies” (Nirvana) vs “Give It to Me Baby” (Rick James, DJ Shadow Mix)
“Let’s Dance” (David Bowie) vs “Jack of Spades” (KRS One, DJ Shadow Mix)
“Shout” (Tears for Fears) vs “Pjanoo” (Eric Prydz)
I don’t know about this. We have some good songs in there but they are remixing them with somewhat unheard of songs. We’ll see how it plays out. I think we have or are reaching the peak of rhytm based games and extra accessiories.
Blizzcon 2009 website is finally launched. August is getting closer and all you Blizzard fans are feeling that tingle in your pants. But many of you are thinking, “But, will I even get a chance to buy a ticket?” Yes, last year’s ticket sales system was a joke. It was worse than trying to get a Bag of Crap from Woot.com. F5 keys around the world were crying in agony from the constant browser refreshes on the ticket sales page. Well, Blizzard has announce how they will be selling these hard to get tickets this year. More on that after the break.
1st half of tickets go on sale on May 16. 2nd half on May 30th. People who cannot make the convention can watch via DirectTV. The ticket price has gone UP to $125.
