Most Recent: News

More clues point to next Call of Duty game being Black Ops 2

Posted on April 24, 2012 by John Scalzo

As if the entire world wasn’t already convinced that Call of Duty 9 is actually Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Activision has planted a few hints within the redesigned CallofDuty.com.

The source code for the Call of Duty 9 splash page reveals the following trademark notice, which directly cites Black Ops, and no other game in the series:

2012 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision and Call of Duty are registered trademarks and Black Ops is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

And if you click “Continue To Full Site,” the trademark notice changes to only mention Call of Duty and the Modern Warfare series. Curious thing, that.

But if you want even more proof, check this out. The loading screen of the site includes morse code that, when translated, spells out “Black Ops Two.”

So yeah, I’d say Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is as good as official.

[Source: MP1st]

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Sledgehammer Games hiring for future Call of Duty title

Posted on April 24, 2012 by John Scalzo

Even though this is a “Treyarch year,” Activision is thinking long and hard about the future of the Call of Duty franchise. To that end, Sledgehammer Games has posted six job listings at Gamasutra looking for new bodies for its “Call of Duty development team.”

The developer is looking for an Animator, a Generalist Engineer, a UI Artist, a Lead Gameplay Engineer, a Senior Online Engineer, and a Lead Multiplayer Level Designer. Those last two might point to another multi-team development situation like we saw with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

So is Sledgehammer assisting with Call of Duty 9? Or is this proof that Call of Duty 10 is in development? It’s hard to say. If Activision’s history is anything to go by, preliminary work has likely already begun on a Call of Duty game that’s scheduled to be released in 2013. As for Call of Duty 9, a multi-team approach clearly worked for Modern Warfare 3, so it just makes good business sense to try it again.

But I guess we’ll find out for sure whether Sledgehammer is involved with Call of Duty 9 in exactly one week. And if they’re not, then let the Call of Duty 10 speculation begin!

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Online retailer to share part of used game profits with publishers

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Melissa Niedringhaus

It’s a well known fact that video game publishers have never been comfortable with the used game side of video game retail. In recent years, publishers have even gone so far as to create counter measures against used game sales like restricted downloadable content or codes to play online.

A new online retailer, EKGaming.com, wants to change all of that and create a “healthy circle of life” for video games. EKG plans to do business completely online instead of having brick and mortar locations so it can keep it’s overhead low, and pass those savings onto consumers in the form of higher trade-in value for games, and share 10% of used game sales with publishers.

Mike Kennedy, CEO of EKG, thinks putting more money into publisher’s pockets could generate more willingness to take risks on new and exciting IPs, “Publishers are spending record amounts of cash on new game development. This increase in dev costs is steering them in directions that don’t necessarily jive with gamers, causing them to take less risks on new and potentially exciting IP’s or game mechanics and sticking with tried and true properties that are more of a guarantee.”

EKG is in the beta stage, and hopes to partner with a local big box retailer to allow gamers to trade in games and have immediate access to new ones, while the used games are funneled through EKG’s online marketplace.

Posted in News |

Max Payne 3 system requirements, new PC screens released

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Even though it’s launching two weeks after the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, don’t think Rockstar is putting any less effort into the PC version of Max Payne 3. Today, the publisher released the system requirements for the game as well as a trio of dazzling new screenshots.

Here are the minimum and recommended system specifications for Max Payne 3:

  • Operating System: Windows 7 32/64 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 32/64 Service Pack 2, Windows XP 32/64 Service Pack 3
  • Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ – i7 3930K 6 Core x 3.06 GHZ / AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHZ – FX8150 8 Core x 3.6 GHZ
  • RAM: 2GB – 16GB
  • Video Card: NVIDIA 8600 GT 512MB VRAM – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB VRAM / Radeon HD 3400 512MB VRAM – Radeon HD 7970 3GB VRAM
  • Sound Card: 100% Direct X 9.0 compatible – Direct X 9.0 compatible supporting Dolby Digital Live
  • HDD Space: 35 GB
  • DVD Drive: Required With Retail Version

And be sure to hit the jump for a look at the new screenshots. (more…)

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Trials Evolution sets one-day XBLA sales record

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Trials HD has consistently been a part of Major Nelson’s weekly XBLA top 20 for years now. So demand for the sequel, Trials Evolution, was (if you’ll excuse the pun) riding high. Just how high? The motorcycle racer from RedLynx has set a new one-day Xbox Live Arcade sales record.

Specific sales numbers weren’t released, but according to Microsoft, Trials Evolution set a record for highest-grossing one-day sales. And believe it or not, but the game’s Leaderboards actually crashed after more than 100,000 players added their best times on Wednesday. Wow.

Congratulation to the team at RedLynx, they’ve earned it.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Batman: Arkham City GOTY Edition coming May 29, contains Harley Quinn’s Revenge DLC

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

WB Games and developer Rocksteady Studios have announced a Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 29.

The GOTY Edition will include all five previously released DLC packs along with a new expansion, “Harley Quinn’s Revenge.” In true GOTY Edition style, the package will also contain 12 skins for Batman, Robin, Catwoman, and Nightwing and a downloadable copy of the animated film Batman: Year One.

If you already own Arkham City and are only interested in “Harley Quinn’s Revenge,” it’ll also be available on May 29 as a separate download on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace.

If you’re interested in a complete list of the DLC expansions and character skins the Batman: Arkham City GOTY Edition will contain, you can find it after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Activision will unveil Call of Duty 9 on May 1

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Activision has added a new splash page to CallofDuty.com confirming that Call of Duty 9 will be unveiled on May 1. The reveal will happen during TNT’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs, probably during the 8:00 PM (Eastern Time) game. The splash page also contains a series of “classified images,” which will unlock during the days leading up to the reveal.

Speculation is running rampant that Call of Duty 9 will be revealed as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. I’d say the image to your right more-or-less confirms it as the faintly visible character in the background matches a leaked Black Ops 2 poster discovered by MP1st.

Whether its Black Ops 2 or not, we do know that the ninth Call of Duty game will be available this November.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Crysis 3 teaser trailer teases a gameplay trailer coming April 24

Posted on April 22, 2012 by John Scalzo

This Crysis 3 teaser trailer is 19 seconds long… and it’s all just a setup to let us know that a full-length gameplay trailer will be released on Tuesday, April 24. Enjoy, I guess.

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