Activision

Fall Out Boy Challenges Gamers to Call of Duty: World at War

By Shawn on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 8:49 AM PST
In Activision, Call of Duty, Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Gamer Life, Games, Microsoft
fall out boy trees Fall Out Boy Challenges Gamers to Call of Duty: World at War

Xbox LIVE Gold members will have a chance to take a shot at Fall Out Boy playing Call Of Duty: World At War. The Game with Fame – Fall Out Boy challenge is set for this weekend.

December 19th from 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. EST/11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. PT, members of Fall Out Boy will be on XBL under the GWF FallOutBoy gamertag. To get in on a game, send a friend request to GWF FallOutBoy, and be online by 1:30 EST/10:30 A.M. PT. More about Fall Out Boy follows the jump.
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Game Informer Has the Goods on Guitar Hero: Metallica

By Stephany on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 7:15 AM PST
In Activision, Game Companies, Gamer Life, Games, Games Industry, Guitar Hero, Microsoft, Sony

metallica Game Informer Has the Goods on Guitar Hero: Metallica

Everyone who got their recent issue of Game Informer in the mail were privy not only to all the great shots of the new Uncharted 2 in the works, but a nice treat in the form of Guitar Hero: Metallica. Unfortunately, I did not get my monthly mag in the mail until last night and then had to fight the man of the house to finally get my grubby paws on it. By that point, the internet was already abuzz with the contents of the upcoming Metallica-centric game, but since not everyone on the planet gets Gamer Informer in the mail, I thought I would share a bit of the news with you.

First off, like the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game, it will include other bands that Metallica feels have inspired them or made an impact on their genre of music over the years. One of the bands that Metallica fought hard to get included on the disc was Slayer, and the reason it was such a fight had a lot to do with the band’s lyrics. Apparently, Microsoft has issues with certain lyrics in songs, and have a tendency to say “nay” to quite a few. Good for Metallica for fighting for what they believe in and getting the speed metal band included! We are unsure at this point what the song is exactly, but it will definitely be something that will require some skill. One of the bands that Metallica really wanted to include was Iron Maiden, but for some reason or another they just could not get it done. That is indeed unfortunate.

One of the cool things about the upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica is that you will be able to use your Guitar Hero: World Tour peripherals to either play guitar, drums, bass or vocals. Hmmm.. I wonder how many kids will be going to school hoarse the next day trying to duplicate James Hetfield’s growlish vocals? If you are more interested in the drum aspect though, there is also a new mode for drummers called Expert Plus which will allow for the use of an extra bass pedal providing you are coordinated enough to mimic Lars Ulrich’s frantic feet (which is about as nice as I will be towards him).

The setlist listed below is not complete, as not all songs for the game have been revealed.

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Infinity Ward: No More Call of Duty 4 DLC

By Stephany on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 1:15 PM PST
In Activision, Call of Duty, Computer, Gamer Life, Microsoft, Sony

call of duty 4: modern warfare

Infinity Ward has responded to forum users over on Xbox.com when asked why there has not been any information, let alone the release of some of the promised playlists for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Apparently this because Infinity Ward is hard a work on the next installment in the series, plus I guess they figure gamers have enough to do with Call of Duty: World at War burning up the charts.

Thanks to Adam over at The Gamer Limit who has kindly posted the discussion from the Xbox. com forums which started when a member was asking where the promised content was:

“Glad to hear you enjoyed CoD:WaW. As for DLC for our games, we did three map packs for Call of Duty 2, ending with an impressive number altogether. For Call of Duty 4, we focused on including as many maps as we could out of box, and had 16 from DAY 1 (adding four more later for a total 20 Maps total).

Personally, I prefer to give the community as much as possible out of the box instead of making them wait and pay extra for them later. However, whenever possible (like with COD2) we continue to make maps if our development process allows for it.

It’s a bit of a catch 22 in gaming. Of course as a gamer you always want more, more more. If you include them out of box (shipped with game for no extra cost) then it’s just ignored and people demand more. If you instead, decide to get the game out and then worry about beefing up the map selection via DLC, people say “don’t nickle and dime me” or “this should have been included in the shipped game”.

Perfect solution, ship with a load of maps (like we did) and also release a lot of DLC (for free). In a perfect world, that would be fantastic. Regretfully in a realistic development environment, it’s near impossible. Unless your Criterion of course, with their magical DLC fairies ; )

In all seriousness though, I hear ya, and We’re always working on improving our development process and planning to ensure that we can deliver more and more community support in the form of updates / DLC and other forms of support for our future games. We have big plans for our future (still currently unofficial) projects.”

The discussion continues after the jump.
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November NPDs: Wrath of the Lich King Dominates PC Chart

By Stephany on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 12:01 PM PST
In Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard, Call of Duty, Command & Conquer, Computer, Electronic Arts, Game Companies, Gamer Life, Games Industry, Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Valve, World of Warcraft

wrath of the lich king

The November NPD numbers are in for PC titles for the month, and it should come as no surprise that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is on top–as a matter of fact it takes the top two spots out of the Top 20. If you look through the whole chart though, you will notice that World of Warcraft took five spots which is an indication that its popularity shows no wane in sight.

Call of Duty: World at War for the PC came in third, with Spore still pulling in the gamers and resting at number four, and Left 4 Dead took the number 8 spot which is a decent slot considering the PC powerhouses that are present on the chart.

  1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
  2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition
  3. Call of Duty: World At War
  4. Spore
  5. Fallout 3
  6. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
  7. The Sims 2 Deluxe
  8. Left 4 Dead
  9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
  10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  11. World of Warcraft
  12. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Expansion
  13. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
  14. EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
  15. Far Cry 2
  16. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
  17. BioShock
  18. Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack
  19. IGT Slots: Little Green Men
  20. Assassin’s Creed

(Thanks Shacknews)

November NPDs: Gears of War 2 Reigns Supreme on Top 10

By Stephany on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 10:37 AM PST
In Activision, Call of Duty, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Game Companies, Gamer Life, Games, Games Industry, Gears of War, Guitar Hero, Microsoft, Sony, Sony, Valve

gears of war 2

The NPD numbers are in for November, and as far as console sales go, Gears of War 2 dominated the chart with 1.5 million units sold and Call of Duty: World at War coming in a very close second with 1.4 million in sales (for the Xbox 360 version).

Shockingly enough, Nintendo’s Wii Music came in last in the top 10, and while that in itself does not surprise me, the fact that it is even in the top 10 is what I am curious over. I suppose that the company’s stellar ad campaign was what did it, along with unsuspecting parents rushing out to buy the game on Black Friday because all the stores in their area were out of Rock Band 2 and World Tour. They probably thought that their kids would like it just as well, by they will unfortunately find out the hard way come Christmas morning.

Top Ten Games

  1. Gears of War 2 (Epic, Xbox 360) – 1.56 million
  2. Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, Xbox 360) – 1.41 million
  3. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) – 796,000
  4. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) – 697,000
  5. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) – 637,000
  6. Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, PS3) – 597,000
  7. Guitar Hero World Tour (Vicarious Visions, Wii) – 475,000
  8. Left 4 Dead (Valve, Xbox 360) – 410,000
  9. Resistance 2 (Insomniac, PS3) – 385,000
  10. Wii Music (Nintendo, Wii) – 297,000

(Thanks VG247)

The Open File: Files from the Front December 12, 2008

By Shawn on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 9:13 AM PST
In Activision, Atari, Battlefield, Bethesda, Call of Duty, Codemasters, Command & Conquer, Computer, Crytek, Elder Scrolls, Electronic Arts, Features, Game Companies, Game Platforms, Gamer Life, Games, Half-Life, Lord of the Rings, LucasArts, Mods, Patches, Sierra, Star Wars, THQ, Take-Two, The Open File, Ubisoft, Valve, Vivendi, id Software

Operation Peacekeeper

After a renewed start we had an interruption these last few weeks but rest assured Filefront is still hosting and promoting all the great user created and hosted content contributed to us. We return with a double length post highlighting some great mods and files for quite a few outstanding games including usual suspects like Half-Life 2, the Battlefield games and of course one of my favorite series “that I am really no good at yet still enjoy” – Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War

Highlights from this week’s column include mods for:

  • Doom III – Wrathchild Act I (not ROE compatible), Revised Alphalabs
  • Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – A Provost of the Nine Divines, More Nord Beards
  • Battlefield 2 – Operation Peacekeeper, Allies Intent Extended
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R – Ballistics Mod
  • Far Cry 2 – new maps: MP_Surf & Gold Rush

There are also links to other maps, mods and patches for many of your favorite PC modifiable games. Be sure to check it all out after the jump.

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Guitar Hero World Tour Reaches Nirvana and Goes European

By Stephany on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 7:04 AM PST
In Activision, Game Companies, Gamer Life, Games, Games Industry, Guitar Hero, Microsoft, Sony

Nirvana

Today, gamers logging into Xbox Live looking for some new tunes for Guitar Hero: World Tour are in for a treat with the Nirvana Track Pack. “Silver”, “Negative Creep”, and ” Your Know You’re Right” will individually run you 160 Microsoft Points ($2.00) each or 440 points ($5.50) for the track pack. If you are interested in bands that normally you would not have heard of over here in the States, Activison has also released some bands whose music is popular in different European countries.

German rock band Sportfreunde Stiller re-wrote their chart-topping hit “’54, ’74, ’90, 2006” in anticipation of a 2010 World Cup championship, and after loosing the World Cup, re-titled it “’54, ’74, ’90, 2010” and are bringing it to Guitar Hero World Tour as part of a three song Track Pack. Also included in the pack is the Italian rock band Negrita with “Mama Mae” and French rock band BB Brunes with “Dis Moi.”

Hailing from Sweden, the Backyard Babies, whose Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on-disc track “Minus Celsius” saw an increase in digital audio downloads after appearing in the game, are back for an encore with “Degenerated” off their 2008 self-titled album. Joining the Backyard Babies in the second three-song Track Pack are Spanish rockers Fito Y Fitipaldis with “Por La Boca Vive El Pez” and Di-Rect who hail from the Netherlands with their track “Johnny.”

The two European Track Packs will be available on Xbox Live Microsoft for 440 and 160 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation Store for $5.49 or $1.99 individually.

Snikt! More Details About X-Men Origins: Wolverine Emerge

By Jonathan on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 1:37 PM PST
In Activision, Computer, Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo, Portable, Sony, Sony

xmenorigins1 1 Snikt! More Details About X Men Origins: Wolverine Emerge

Activision has revealed some brand new details about their upcoming movie tie-in, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And with the words “movie tie-in” and “Activision” in that last sentence, you can probably guess about half of those details right off the bat. It will be an “epic action-adventure” that will
take players “beyond the movie’s storyline” with “in-depth combo attacks,” and will be released on every current gaming platform. Sounds pretty familiar, but it all involves Wolverine, so that makes it all just a smidge cooler.

Raven Software is developing the game, which will be released in May 2009 along with the movie itself. The story will involve Wolverine’s escape from the Weapon X facility and his subsequent travels around the world. This will probably be told mostly through sequences where you fight through hordes of baddies using your adamantium claws and regenerative healing powers, which will apparently let you watch the man heal up right before your eyes.

Call me a skeptic, but after the horrendous X2: Wolverine’s Revenge — which was also published by Activision — I’m a little hesitant to get excited about this one at all. Look, developers, all you need to do is play God of War, paste a cutout of Wolverine over it, and you’ll be halfway to a decent game right there. Just saying.

Call of Duty: World at War Double XP Week Gets into Full Swing

By Stephany on Saturday, December 6th, 2008 at 8:22 AM PST
In Activision, Call of Duty, Computer, Gamer Life, Games, Microsoft

call of duty: world at war

As of yesterday, gamers who own the Limited Collector’s Edition of Call of Duty: World at War can start earning double experience points when playing multiplayer until December 12.

To earn these extra points, you must have access to the “Double XP Officer’s Club” playlists on Xbox 360, as well as the general playlists if you are a PC user.

If you need more information on how to activate this, just check out the Call of Duty website.

Video Review Crashes Xbox 360 Peripheral Party Games

By Shawn on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 3:35 PM PST
In Activision, Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Gamer Life, Games, Hardware, Microsoft, Microsoft

In the spirit of getting the most for your money while buying Holiday gifts this season, ChannelFlip has a video review of the latest party games with peripherals for the Xbox 360. Considering you can’t use most of the peripherals that come with these titles on other games nor can you return them, its good to get an idea of what you, your friends and family might really appreciate. Video host Katharine Fletcher will tell you which of these games are good bets and which would just sit around gathering dust after a couple play throughs.

This time of year you always get lots of gift packs being aimed at the Christmas market. But with gaming gear coming packaged in notoriously nasty non-resealable packaging, picking these up on a whim could land you with a rather expensive and non-returnable white elephant on your hands. So today I’m reviewing Lips, You’re in the Movies, and Scene It.

Some notes…

Lips: Sadly you can’t hear my singing, but rest assured I sounded awesome! ;)
UPDATE: (Oops! I’ve just realized that in the final edit of this we haven’t included a star rating for Lips! I ended up going for 2 stars for this one. As well as the points raised in the review there were also other issues I didn’t have time to mention such as the ‘Import your music’ feature which didn’t work very well, and the fact that you can’t record your singing or use the mics with other 360 music games.)

You’re In the Movies: Please note that the demonstration of using the camera and software to put you in the movie was filmed in our studio in front of walls painted with solid, bright background colour. The quality of the image I got was therefore much better than when I was using this at home with cream coloured walls with pictures and furniture. A lot more of me was accidentally keyed out when I did it at home, as you can see from the film short the game put together with that footage.

Scene It: I have actually played this with a friend since reviewing it and while I noticed repeat questions, we still had really good fun playing it.

Incidentally ChannelFlip has announced that Katharine has been listed as one of Apple U.K.’s top video podcasts of 2008.