April 11th, 2010
PC World – The military-minded franchise worth billions with recent record-snapping sales has another lawsuit in its lineup of legal perplexities. Activision Blizzard, publisher of the Call of Duty franchise, has countersued Jason West and Vincent Zampella, claiming the two former Call of Duty development studio executives tried to “hijack” company assets related to the war-themed first-person shooter series.
West and Zampella, former heads of Call of Duty development studio (and Activision subsidiary) Infinity Ward, were fired early last month, according to Activision, for “breaches of contract and insubordination.” Activision subsequently spun the franchise into its own business unit, and created a second studio, Sledgehammer Games, to develop an action-adventure game based on the franchise. West and Zampella quickly followed up by filing suit against Activision for over $36 million in royalties and damages, alleging they were wrongfully terminated and their contacts breached. …
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: Activision, California, Jason West, Los Angeles, pc world, Vincent, Ward. | #
March 20th, 2010
Could Nintendo’s Mario and Luigi be headed for blackboards and pop-top desks after decades battling bob-ombs, chain chomps, hammer bros, and koopa troopas? Mario creator and Nintendo R&D guru Shigeru Miyamoto certainly hopes so.
Speaking to The Associate Press ahead of today’s London-based British Academy Video Games Awards, where he’ll receive a special award, Miyamoto admitted turning consoles into teaching tools is “maybe the area where I am devoting myself (the) most.” …
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: Luigi, Mario, mario kart wii, Nintendo, ombs, pc world. | #
February 27th, 2010
PC World – We have 2010 release dates for Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M, but could the next Zelda be on its way this year, too? A new Mario, Metroid, and Zelda, all in the same 365-day timespan? Xbox and PS3s sacrificed, Italian plumbers and koopa troopas living together…mass euphoria? …
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: America, Cammie Dunaway, galaxy 2, Mario, Mario Galaxy, Mario-Metroid-, Matt, Metroid, Mr. Iwata, Nintendo, nintendo america, pc world, Zelda. | #
February 14th, 2010
PC World – While the biggest buzz this week was about, well, Google Buzz, here are few hardware stories that might have been buried under the wave of social networking stories. Enjoy!
Looking to do more with your Wii? The Homebrew Channel provides a thriving community of developers and users looking to bring some amazing new features to the aging Wii console, including emulation, DVD and game playback from other regions, and the ability to run Linux. Mike Keller provides instructions for installing Homebrew on your Wii, which is easier than ever thanks to the mature Homebrew scene. Game on!
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: Homebrew Channel, Mike Keller, pc world, power management capabilities, social networking, Wii. | #
January 17th, 2010
PC World -
Dear Nintendo, while I respect your president Reggie Fils-Aime’s decision to shrug off the Wii’s inability to do high-definition video as “no loss” in an interview with CNBC, I’m not sure you’re taking the long view.
And if recent HD usage survey results are accurate, you probably should be.
According to a November 2009 Knowledge Networks survey, 43 percent of people “watch HD programs every day,” up from just 26 percent in 2007. That’s a 65 percent increase in two years, significant enough to lead Knowledge Networks’ president to note “This sends a message to advertisers that HD is becoming the new norm for those with HD access across all program types.”
People apparently–and increasingly–want high-definition content. And you know what? Yes, only part of Netflix’s total catalog may be HD-ready today, but what…you think Netflix plans to wait for the Wii to catch up with an HD part? Care to wager how much Netflix’s HD library is going to grow in 2010 alone? …
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: Mario, Netflix, Nintendo, pc world, reggie fils aime, Reggie Fils-, requiescat in pace. | #
December 30th, 2009
PC World – Is the following clip of someone ostensibly playing Valve’s Half Life 2 on an Xbox 360 with their arms and fingers a glimpse of things to come from Microsoft’s Project Natal?
In the grainy, jerky video noticed by Gossip Gamer, a player gesticulates not unlike Tom Cruise in Minority Report, signaling with his arms and flexing his digits to pan his view around the rebel research lab visited toward the beginning of the dystopian sci-fi shooter. He holds his right arm rigid, almost like a breakdancer about to do the robot, swinging it left or right and slightly up or down to maneuver the camera in turn. His index and middle fingers appear extended, gun-like, while the other fingers curl under. The motion capture device itself–presumably (though not verifiably) the Natal camera–rests on a tripod below the screen just a few feet in front of him.
At about the 0:30 mark, his left hand makes an appearance (it’s hidden by his body, interposed between it and whoever’s filming) and illustrates fine-motion control. His right arm aims the camera, while the left “grabs” the view and shifts it in smaller increments, allowing him to “feel around” the table and explore more carefully. It’s not apparent how he’s moving forward or backward, but I’m assuming that’s done with the (hidden) left hand too.
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: clip, half life 2, middle fingers, Natal, pc world, Tom Cruise, view. | #
December 16th, 2009
PC World – If you’re thinking of buying a Wii this holiday for health-related reasons, you may want to think twice. A professor of health and exercise science at the University of Mississippi reportedly tracked eight families for six months to see if Nintendo’s motion-driven console would impact their fitness levels and found that the console “had little effect on family fitness.”
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: family fitness, fitness, fitness levels, pc world, thinking. | #
December 1st, 2009
PC World – Thanksgiving week sales of Nintendo’s Wii plummeted in the US despite a $50 price cut designed to reinvigorate the kinetically renowned console. In a press statement, the company revealed it sold about 550,000 units of the console during the holiday week, or nearly a third fewer than the nearly 800,000 units sold during the same timeframe last year.
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: pc world, world thanksgiving. | #
November 25th, 2009
PC World – One of the great things about video games is that pricing is fairly standardized, which makes Black Friday video game deals extremely easy to spot.
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: Black, black friday, pc world, video. | #
November 24th, 2009
PC World – Of all the Mario Kart games, the best was probably the first, and now you can see why for 800 Wii Points, or about eight US dollars. We’re talking the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) original here, born 17 years ago in 1992. It supported 1 to 2 players, packed eight playable Mario-verse characters, and offered three championship cups divvied into three distinct ‘kart’ classes.
No Comments | In: Scariest Video Games | tags: Mario, Mario Kart, nintendo entertainment system, pc world, Super, Wii. | #
