Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 has become the biggest launch title in entertainment history; something that comes as no surprise, seeing that Activision is the worlds biggest video game publisher because of the Call of Duty franchise.

In its first day, the game sold an estimated 4.7 million copies in North America and in the UK, reports internal Activision estimates, with estimated sell-through sales of $310 million in North America and the UK alone in the first 24 hours. Meaning that, this could mean that Modern Warfare 2 did sell the recent estimated 7 million copies worldwide on day one - this report only covers the UK and North America sales, not the entire planet’s day one sale of the game.

“The Call of Dutyfranchise has become a cultural phenomenon showing the power of video games as an entertainment medium,” said Mike Griffith, CEO, Activision. “The shattering of these entertainment records is a testament to the compelling, cinematic and uniquely engaging experience that the Call of Duty brand delivers. Modern Warfare 2 has taken interactive experience to unprecedented heights setting a new standard for entertainment.”

But, the question still remains. How much did Modern Warfare 2 sell worldwide on day one?

While we’re waiting the for release of Modern Warfare 2, Activision has confirmed that yet another Call of Duty title will be headed our way in 2010.

In a conference call, Activision president, Mike Griffith stated that, “In [calendar year] 2010, Activision Publishing is expected to release strong, innovative new titles,” and that “The diversified lineup will include titles based on the best selling franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Shrek, [and] Spider-Man.”

With that said, it comes as no surprise that Activision would milk its most popular franchise, but, as for another World at War Call of Duty title, Activision hasn’t revealed any details about the next Call of Duty title, or if it’s a sequel to World at War.

No Doubt is suing Activision for un-permitted use of their avatars within Band Hero, and they’re seeking damages for their avatars being turned into “virtual karaoke players”.

The band argues that it “agreed to place avatars containing their name and likeness performing three No Doubt songs”. However, the band never allowed use of their avatars beyond their three songs within the game; Band Hero allows their use in more than 60 other songs – along with that, individual band members can be “isolated into solo performances of these cover songs and placed randomly in countless variations”.

“Activision has deceived and confused the public into believing that No Doubt authorized the use of its name and likeness for the Character Manipulation Feature of Band Hero and that No Doubt approves and endorses the appearance of its members individually performing songs that are wholly inappropriate and out of character for No Doubt,” reads the complaint. We’ve contacted Activision to get its side of the story.

This is what happens when you receive a 25 kill streak in Modern Warfare 2, you’ll an enormous super weapons in which there’s no escape even for the person that releases it. Modern Warfare 2 releases on November 10. Enjoy!

[Nuke Your Opponents in Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer [Spoilers] via Hot Blooded Gaming]

Spoiler Warning: Leaked footage of Modern Warfare 2 showcased a playable art of terrorism; in where the player would shoot innocent civilians in an airport. Activision has since explained the propose of the scene stating that it’s “designed to evoke the atrocities of terrorism”.

However, those that aren’t sure they can handle the scene, they’ve revealed that the scene is completely skippable. “At the beginning of the game, players encounter a mandatory ‘checkpoint’ in which they are warned that an upcoming segment may contain disturbing elements and they can choose not to engage in the gameplay that involves this scene,” an Activision spokesperson told IGN.

This means that players can “opt-out” of the level entirely – we won’t know for sure until MW2 releases in November . However, Activision has made it clear that “[this] is not representative of the overall gameplay experience in [MW2]“, meaning that this will be the only time you’ll be killing citizens in the game.

Activision revealed today that Blur, the company’s highly anticipated foray into the racing genre, is now scheduled to ship in 2010. Stating that they’re moving Blur from 2009 to give the development team at Bizarre Creations more time to enhance the game’s online multiplayer gameplay component.

“We are committed to making Blur a great new racing franchise, and we are very encouraged by the game’s design,” stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO, Activision Publishing. “The additional time will allow the studio to fully optimize the vision they set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience.” Blur is now scheduled to release sometime in 2010.

Plastic guitars, used in the popular Guitar Hero titles, are Activision’s hammer in its crusade as ” the most successful game publisher on the planet”. However, with Guitar Hero sales on a recent decline, the next step is to ditch consoles and their licensing fees altogether.

During a Q&A session at Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, said that Activision is now exploring the option of selling Guitar Hero and games of its kind as plug-in-and-play products.

“I think what the untethered ‘Guitar Hero’ does is it maybe equals the playing field a little bit more and gives you leverage with first parties on downloadable content and the business model,” said Kotick. “You should expect to see many of our products to be playable on the television independent of a console.”

There’s innovative, and then there’s craziness. And I think that Bobby Kotick may have just crossed the line between the two because this would be a bad move on Activision’s part.

[Activision’s ‘Guitar Hero’ and Others May Ditch Consoles via MTV]

Infinity Ward announced during a press event in Los Angeles tonight, that with the release of Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft is planning to release a new Xbox 360 model based on the upcoming game.

This new bundle (to be available in both North America and Europe) comes with an Elite console marked Modern Warfare 2 branding (seen above), a 250GB HDD (hard dive), a copy of Modern Warfare 2, and two wireless Black controllers. And it will be available for $399.

“It’s the highest compliment to the team and our fans to have a special themed Xbox 360 console,” said Vince Zampella, CEO of Infinity Ward. “The precision and detail that’s been put into the console captures the intensity and feel of ‘Modern Warfare 2.’ We can’t wait for our community and fans around the world to see for themselves on Nov. 10.”

Looks like Joe Wilson isn’t the only one shouting “you lie!” In a response to Courtney Love’s allegations of suing the “S” out of Activision because of Kurt Cobain’s likeliness being used in Guitar Hero 5, Activision pushed out a statement, stating that Courtney Love is lying.

“Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero(r) 5,” states Activision to Joystiq. However, in the original report, it said that Activision played a “Bully['s] part”, and that she never gave her approval for Kurt Cobain to be used in Guitar Hero 5. Anyway, it looks like someone has some explaining to do.

You won’t believe this. Raven Software’s Manveer Heir has posted a message on his Twitter stating that if Wolfenstein outsells Madden 10 in the month of August, he’ll pay for your copy of Wolfenstein. However, in order to receive your money back, you’ll need to keep your copy of the receipt.

“Here’s the deal folks: if Wolfenstein outsells Madden 10 in August I will personally pay for your copy (keep your receipt) – SPREAD THE WORD,” his Twitter feed read. He didn’t go into anymore details about the throwdown with Madden 10.

However, from a bussiness stand point, this doesn’t make much sense, seeing that if the game does outsell Madden 10 in the month of August, the company, along with him, will be losing more money than they’ll receive from the game. Because when you pay the $60 dollars for your game, it goes out to many places. But, I’m not going into detail.

Update: Robert Bowling from Infinity Ward tells us that 50 Cent is “one of many squad voices” that will be featured in the multiplayer and Spec Ops modes in Modern Warfare 2. Expect to hear Fifty saying things like”Reloading,” “Watch your fire,” “I’m down, get me up!” and “Tango Down!” according to Bowling.

“He is one of quite a few casual cameos in the game, none of which I can name at this point,” Bowling says. “Benji and Joel of Good Charlotte NOT being one of them. They’re just good friends with Curtis and came along with him when he was here recently to check out his voice in the game.” – via Kotaku.

Original: 50 Cent is ready to make an appearance in yet another video game, but this time it isn’t his own. Instead, he’ll be making a cameo in Activision’s and Infinity Ward’s upcoming title Modern Warfare 2. However, it still unknown if 50’s going to continue his search for his diamond encrusted skull.

Anyway, half-a-dollar will lend is talents as one of the many voices featured in the Multiplayer positions of the game. The rapper dropped the news following a visit to Infinity Ward, during which he played Modern Warfare 2 with Good Charlotte’s Benji and Joel Madden.

There hasn’t been an official announcement, yet, but  Robert Bowling, the developer’s director of communications, stated on his twitter that 50 Cent will be “one of the squad voices in Multiplayer / Spec Ops” – no news on the other two yet.

“Everyone else is just mad ’cause I came from the bottom without them,” 50 states – this isn’t a real statement from 50 himself, but it does sound like something he would say. More news coming soon.

[Modern Warfare 2 Features Cameo From... 50 Cent? via Kotaku]

EA CEO John Riccitiello is known for his opinions, which are often controversial, and in his latest outburst, it’s no different. During EA’s Q1 conference call, Riccitiello stated that a price cut will move more hardware, and that they’ll like to see a cut later this year.

“We think pricing will move hardware,” he said. “We anticipate price cuts at some point and we’d like to see them later in the year.” However, so far, the Xbox 360 is the only system to see major price cuts. But, Nintendo hasn’t hinted at a price drop since the sales of its consoles have been going strong, and, recently, Sony has been in the spotlight about thier comments of a price drop for the PlayStation 3. We cant help, but think the comment may have been a clue to Sony to drop the price of its console soon.

Anyway, EA is a big player in the gaming industry and are convinicing enough to change minds of a console manufacturer like Sony. However, if you don’t remember. A few months back, Activision threatened Sony about the price of the PS3, and the lack of a price cut.

Activision are building a new studio in San Francisco. And, believe it or not, they need people to work there. So they have picked up two of Visceral Games’ senior staff member.

According to Kotaku, Activision got their hands on Glen Schofield, who was general manager at Visceral, and Michael Condrey, who was chief operating officer.

They both left today.  To go onto work at Activision’s new studio, whose name and purpose are a mystery. However, I bet we can rule out anything “family friendly”. Seeing that EA’s Visceral Games worked on such games as Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno.

[Dead Space Devs Jump Ship To Activision via Kotaku]

With a name such as “Prestige” the only conclusion is that it would cost an arm and a leg. To add to that, there’s the fact that it comes fully packed with a pair of “fully functional night version goggles”. Seems like it’s going to cost alot, doesn’t it.

So what’s the cost Infinity Ward? Their response; a reasonable price.

To get the “Prestige” version, which includes an art book, limited Steelbook case and a token to download the original Call of Duty, plus the “fully functional” night version goggles, you should expect to pay $149 USD, almost twice that of the $79 “Hardened” edition.

Infinity Ward also confirmed, via its Twitter account, that the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network versions of the original Call of Duty will have multiplayer support.

[Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Comes With Prestige Price via Kotaku]

A video showcasing the un-boxing of Modern Warfare 2’s Prestige Edition was posted to the internet yesterday.

This is the most expensive edition of Modern Warfare 2 and comes packed with the Harden Edition of the game, an exclusive art book, and a fohawk head to put your pair of working night vision goggles on. Yes, you heard right, working night vision goggles.

Anyway,  this collector’s bundle seems to be one of the most ambitious bundles ever published. However, without a price point, who knows if this bundle is worth the price? All I know is, it would take a ridiculous price point to get me away from buying a pair of working night vision goggles with my video game.

After improperly ditching the “Call of Duty” trademark for the last couple of months, the trademark somehow finds its way on to the official packaging for Modern Warfare 2. Turning Modern Warfare 2 into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

However, in the past couple of months, its developer, along with its publisher, proclaimed that Modern Warfare 2 “has taken on such a life of its own.” So what’s up with the change of heart Infinity Ward and Activision?

“Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 is the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare,” a spokesperson told Kotaku. “We have focused our attention on Modern Warfare in order to most effectively communicate the fact that this is the first true sequel in the Call of Duty series.

As much as I hate to admit it, this doesn’t really explain much, or even anything. However, one can only wonder. Is this a direct cause to the recent brand awareness survey?

When it comes to holiday releases only the strong can make it out alive. That’s why Activision has bumped Singularity’s release date, because they do not want Modern Warfare 2’s release getting in the way of Singularity being a success.

According to Kotaku, Activision has today opened a time portal for Singularity, moving it to Q1 2010, well out of range of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2.

“The level of excitement for Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 coming out of E3 well exceeded our expectations and therefore we have decided to move Raven’s upcoming sci-fi first person action title, Singularity, from 2009 to Q1 2010,” said an Activision spokesperson to Kotaku.

“We believe that the March quarter will provide a better opportunity to establish the new cutting-edge action IP as a ‘must-have’ title and clears the way for Modern Warfare 2 to dominate this holiday season.”

[Activision Moves Singularity Out Of Modern Warfare 2's Way via Kotaku]

Let’s face it, the guitar used in Guitar Hero doesn’t really support the “mainstream and expanded audience” because not everyone lesions to the music presented with it – Rock, Heavy Metal, or whatever. But, with DJ Hero, Activision hopes that it will be the key to unlocking the “mainstream and expanded audience” with mixes of music genres.

“If you look at what our Guitar Hero franchise has achieved, we now have 15 million households that are active Guitar Hero users and we continue to satisfy them with more experiences and the chance to indulge in more music and gameplay,” said Activision’s CEO and president Mike Griffith via GI.biz.

“But outside of those 15 million household’s, there’s another 300 million that haven’t for one reason or another bought Guitar Hero yet. One of those reasons is we’re not reaching new genres and new music audiences in a way that DJ Hero allows us to accomplish. DJ Hero is going to be expansive to the franchise and be particularly exciting for Europe where that genre of music is arguably more important than it is elsewhere.”

Leading global publisher of mobile games, Glu has announced its plans to release a Modern Warfare 2 mobile game, published as part of the company’s expanded partnership with Activision.

“Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most anticipated entertainment properties of the year and the Glu team is excited to develop a mobile game for this blockbuster title for fans of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise,” said Jill Braff, senior vice president, global publishing, Glu Mobile.

The mobile title will be available in Q4 2009 and will be published worldwide for carriers and application stores that support Android, Blackberry, BREW, J2ME and Windows Mobile.

Activision’s head of state, Bobby Kotick has been on a recent high, saying that Activision may need to “stop supporting Sony” come 2010 or 2011 because “the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and [that doesn't] make it easy for [them] to support the platform.” But, that hasn’t seem to faze Sony’s solid stature.

“PlayStation has tremendous momentum coming out of E3, and we are seeing positive growth with more than 350 titles slated to hit across all our platforms, including many anticipated games from our publishing partners,” said Playstation spokesman Patrick Seybold when speaking with Kotaku.

“We enjoy healthy business relationships with and greatly value our publishing partners and are working closely with them to deliver the best entertainment experience.”

Now, the statements made by both sides are very understandable, but like Seybold stated, coming out of E3 Sony has a solid line-up excluding Activision’s upcoming titles. Anyway, lets just hope that Activision doesn’t go ahead with their remark.

Meet with some mixed emotions from Modern Warfare fanboys alike, it seems that World at War is a huge success, ranking over 11 Million copies sold since its debut in November of last year.

Just to recap, during its pre-Christmas debut, it sold more than 1.88 million units in its first month on retail shelves. Sales then went on to be very solid with an average of about 1.2 million copies each month.

Something is only “absolutely critical” if it’s needed to help the sales of a game in the gaming intdustry, or if it’s needed to make the experience more entertaining for players online, or off.

However, Activision’s producer for Singularity, Kekoa Lee-Creel, in an interview with Develop, said that the sci-fi oriented FPS is facing a number of challenges.

“The shooter market is saturated, it’s tough to break in right now when there’s a lot of great, well-established franchises,” said Lee-Creel. “We’re definitely on track to release a demo. That’s absolutely critical.”

“It’s so hard to convey how a game feels, but I have confidence that once we can cross that threshold I think we’re good.”

The game, developed by Raven Software, is set for its PS3, Xbox 360 and PC release in 2009

Midway Newcastle may be on the verge of closing its doors, but that hasn’t stopped it from announcing its development on its newest IP, Necessary Force. However, its announcement isn’t a lost cause, the studio hopes that it can end its seek for a buyer with it.

Develop even had the chance of meeting up with studio head Craig Duncan to talk about the game, which after three months of work is playable, and says the team is not giving up just yet.

“The idea of a detective who sets his own rules is the sort of story that’s been around in movies for a while, but we don’t think anyone’s managed to capture the essence of those choices and consequences in games,” said Duncan. “That unprecedented level of open world influence and troubled morality is something we’re really keen to explore.”

“It’s really important that people know that this is a team that wants to stick together – sometimes when you look at buying a studio you can worry that the real talent, the people, will just flee the ship, leaving you with some IP, kit and an empty building; the pieces of the puzzle that aren’t really worth anything,” he added.

“But everyone here as worked together for at least two years, with the original core team still together after about ten years. We’ve been through the ups and downs and all want to stay working together.”

“Despite all that’s been going on, we’ve only had three people leave this year – it just goes to show that everyone wants to stay together, how galvanized they are as a team. They don’t know if they’re going to have a job in a month’s time, but they’re still putting in a huge amount of effort now; staying until nine in the evening working on this – and that’s because they’re all so motivated by the great project we’re working on.”

FreeStyleGames studio, the developers behind the upcoming DJ Hero title, have been hinting at the possibility all of E3, but the developers over at Neversoft, known for the Guitar Hero series, haven’t put their two cents into the equation, until now.

“We’ve worked with [DJ Hero creator FreeStyleGames], talked to them about the game for a couple of years now, looked at different builds and played it,” GH director Brian Bright told Eurogamer TV. “We would love to integrate in the future.”

However, Bright went on to say that the games release dates did not allow the team to include the option in the latest major Guitar Hero installment.

“Unfortunately for Guitar Hero 5, we ship a few months before they do. [But] we’d love to explore instrument compatibility in the future; we’ll see where it goes.”

Alright. Modern Warfare 2 may seem to capture image of war, but studio head Vince Zampella says that with Modern Warfare 2 Infinity Ward aims for entertainment, not realism.

“We go for authenticity not realism,” Zampella told Official PlayStation Magazine. “We’re not making a sim, we’re making entertainment. We want it to look real like an action movie.”

Zamplella explains why the futuristic weapons don’t ruin the game’s authenticity. “You see a guy in an action movie, what he does is a little over the top. It makes for a great movie.”

[Modern Warfare 2: Authenticity over realism via CVG]

The once publisher of Brütal Legend, Activision has filed suit against Double Fine Productions, who is the developer of Brütal Legend, to prevent the games release in Rockcember.

According to a report made by the Associated Press, the lawsuit, filed in Santa Monica on Wednesday, claims that Double Fine failed to deliver the game on time to Activision. The suit also claims that Double Fine then offered the completed game to EA to release.

In addition, the lawsuit claims Activision paid Double Fine about $15 million to develop Brutal Legend, but the studio failed to meet the deadline last year. And that Double Fine then said it would need another nine months and $7 million to complete the game.

Activision and Double Fine negotiated to try to keep the game on track, but no agreement was ever reached, according to the court filing. Activision contends it never relinquished its rights to the game and that Double Fine improperly transferred Brutal Legend to EA.

“Hey, if Activision liked it, then they should have put a ring on it,” Double Fine President Tim Schafer said. “Oh great, now Beyonce is going to sue me too.”

The lawsuit states that Activision has suffered “irreparable harm” and will lose not only the game, but also the ability to sell downloadable content based on Brutal Legend if the release isn’t stopped.

[Activision sues to stop Jack Black game via Associated Press]

That’s right. According to a twitter post made by Tony Hawk himself, he’ll be showing of Tony Hawk Ride, the newest installment in to the Tony Hawk frachise, at the Microsoft E3 Keynote in LA tomorrow.

“Just practiced my part for Microsoft’s E3 keynote tomorrow (introducing #thride),” said Hawk. “First time I’ve ever had to wear make-up for a rehearsal.”

Well, it looks like someone on the Xbox Team is going to be humiliated during the MS keynote, much like what happened at the Nintendo Keynote last year – but not you Tony, we’ll be fine.

Tony Hawk: Ride features a wireless skateboard controller designed in conjunction with the game to offer a dynamic gaming experience built from the ground up. Using a combination of accelerometers and motion sensors, the intuitive controller allows players to physically control the action by performing various movements and gestures on the board that directly translate into amazing tricks in the game.

It’s time. After god knows how long since the teaser that shocked the inter-web, the Eastern Conference Final is finally upon us. During the end beginning of the second third fourth quarter of the Eastern Conference Final millions of fans and gamers were left at the edge of their seats with this very Modern Warfare 2 trailer.

“Everyone on the team is laser focused on making the most gripping experience we’ve ever created,” said Infinity Ward’s CEO, Vince Zampella when the title was announced. “No detail is too small and every finishing touch imaginable is underway to make Modern Warfare 2 our best ever. We can’t wait for our fans around the world to play starting November 10th.”

Advertisement: Mountain Dew is teaming up with the people over at World of Warcraft to produce two new favors for the second version of Game Fuel. Anyway, by clicking here you can win gaming gear for your PC via their promotion site.

That’s right. It seems that we don’t have to wait until E3 to get our hands on the a trailer that shows Modern Warfare 2 in action because on May 24th during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on TNT we’ll be getting that chance. But, lucky they left us with a little tease, thanks Activision.

“Everyone on the team is laser focused on making the most gripping experience we’ve ever created,” said Infinity Ward’s CEO, Vince Zampella when the title was announced. “No detail is too small and every finishing touch imaginable is underway to make Modern Warfare 2 our best ever. We can’t wait for our fans around the world to play starting November 10th.”

Update: It has been brought to my attention that there was a little error within the title. However, it has now been edited.

Original: That’s right. According to The Hollwood Reporter, it seems that Activision have set up deals for “Call of Duty: The Movie”, the movie for the very popular video game.

“[The Call of Duty movie is] being talked about for the big screen,” said one person with knowledge of the deal.

However, in an interview prior to Thursday’s quarterly earnings conference call, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick wouldn’t comment on the status of Call of Duty becoming a film.

Kotick added that video games, especially family-friendly titles – like Guitar Hero, which will be getting its own show - are “capturing leisure time away from TV and film.”

Evidence that Kotick might be correct was in the company’s financial report on Thursday. Revealing that Activision Blizzard’s first-quarter revenue had more than tripled to $981 million as net income swelled to $189 million from $43 million in the year-ago quarter.

The first major trailer for Activision’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen literally transforms half way through to reveal both sides of the robotic conflict. Only slightly meta. Expect a blockbuster launch via the PS3, PSP, PS2, Wii, DS, Xbox 360 and PC alongside the Michael Bay film which hits June 23.

“Let’s get ready to rock!!!” Don’t you ever undermine this statement because in this Guitar Hero you’ll be rocking all night long – that’s only if you can keep you fingers from melting off.

According to Joystiq, Activision has confirmed to them that Guitar Hero: Van Halen is indeed in development and will release sometime during the second half of this year.

Activision could not confirm any songs, and only said the game will contain Van Halen’s “greatest hits,” as well as guest acts such as Queen, Weezer, Blink-182, The Offspring, Queens of the Stone Age, and more.

However, they were told by Activision’s Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management that, “… this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar,” which is a plus since David Lee Roth is back with the band and they just finished a successful tour.

In addition, they revealed that there’s a very slim chance that the rockers might show up at E3 2009.

If there’s one thing gamers really like, it’s freedom. An open world to explore and do whatever they want, especially when they have godlike powers that let them morph into any shape and wreak havoc on an entire city. Prototype promises to be that game.

As Alex Mercer, a genetically altered man who has lost his memory, you wield amazing shape-shifting powers which you’ll need to find those responsible for radically changing you and exact your revenge. You’ll have to rip and shred your way through a populated New York City brimming with citizens, military and a faction of “infected” individuals. It’s a three-way war between you, the military and those who’ve been infected by a strange virus. You’ll have to uncover the dark conspiracy that lies at the heart of everything that’s happened to you and the people around you.

One of the ways Prototype sets itself apart from other, similar games is in how you use Alex’s different abilities. By consuming any living person you come in contact with, you actually absorb their memories, physical appearance and any special abilities they had to use at your disposal. As you do this you unlock the memories they had which give you clues to your own identity, solving the overall puzzle of what’s happened to you, and why. Plus, you can mix the abilities and unique characteristics of those you absorb to become even more powerful, combining them into weapons like razor sharp claws, blades, armored skin, shields and more. In effect, you become the ultimate weapon giving you countless ways to play.

Borrowing from games like Mirror’s Edge, the art of “Parkour” was a huge influence on the way Alex moves – nothing is an obstacle for Alex as he smoothly negotiates a bustling New York City. Up walls, over cars and scaling high buildings are seemingly effortless actions for Alex and his super-human strength and agility.

Another unique element present in Prototype is Alex’s ability to blend into a crowd by looking like anyone – a soldier, a citizen or an officer. You can choose a full-frontal assault or go for a more stealthy way of infiltrating the enemy. For example, consume a victim who has access to restricted areas and assume his identity to move in and out, undetected. Want to steal a helicopter but you don’t know how to fly one? Sneak up on a pilot and absorb his piloting skills. Soon enough, you’ll be able commandeer other vehicles, such as cars and tanks, by consuming even more people around you. Use these vehicles to do as much damage as possible and then disappear if the action gets too hot. You’ll easily be able to slip in and out of restricted areas throughout New York City to learn as much as you can about what’s going on behind the scenes.

In a game as big as all Manhattan, you can bet you’ll be in for some seriously tough boss battles! Yet, even in a setting as big as this, you’ll feel the world closing in on you as you are surrounded by thousands of pedestrians, hundreds of different vehicles and a thriving representation of the world’s most famous city.

Set for release in June of 2009, Radical Entertainment looks set to unleash a very promising game full of astounding possibilities for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

During all this antisapation we forgot one of the most important things about Prototype and that was its release date, but now that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Today, we recieved news from Activision that their high antisapated title, Prototype, will be releasing June 5 in the UK and June 9 in North America. The game will pit gamers as Alex Mercer as he trys to figure out what has happened to him, and whats happening around him.

Along with this very important announcement, they also revealed the openning cimatic for the game.

Update: We have learned by fourzerotwo, which is the committee manager of MW2, via Xbox Live that this quote is fake and there’s no such person as Todd Stevens. More information is posted up here. “… we don’t have a lead sku, both platforms have dedicated guys to allow equal dev time (the way it should be). “

Orginal: When at last weeks GDC event in San Francisco, Todd Stevens of Infinity Ward had this to say about Modern Warfare 2’s lead platform.

“Modern Warfare 2 is set to release early this November, and will be on the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. The Playstation 3 is our leading platform for Modern Warfare 2. The PS3 version will run smoother and have slightly better visuals than the PC and 360 version. We’ve been working on Modern Warfare 2 ever since we released Call of Duty 4 back in 2007. We would like to thank everyone who is still with the Call of Duty 4 community. We will be releasing more information throughout the coming months, so be patient.”

[No official source for the information wasn't listed via eu.playstation.com]

With Guitar Hero: Metallica on the edge of releasing, Activision needs some way of advertising the game. So what’s a better way to advertising then having the same style as the Guitar Hero: World Tour commercials, but with a Metallica twist?

 That’s why they have revealed the newest sets of commercials for Guitar Hero: Metallica advertising in that matter. But, one of the commercials features legendary NCAA coaches Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino and Bob Knight, along with Metallica.

There were many reports today stating that Modern Warfare 2 has dropped the ‘Call of Duty’ out of its name, so we asked Activision for a reason why they changed the name. Responding, a company spokesperson told us as to the reason why.

“Modern Warfare has taken on such a life of its own, it has become our focus now,” we were told by the company spokesperson. But, sadly, other then that we were reminded that, “it’s too early to release additional details.”

The game is planned to release November 10th 2009. More details will be revealed in our upcoming preview of the title coming god knows when.

When an artist produces enough hit songs they combined them into a ‘Greatest Hits’ collection, or collaboration. Now, it seems that Activision, along with the guys at Beenox, have plans to produce a ‘Greatest Hits’ collaboration of Guitar Hero.

In an interview with IGN, Paul Gadbois, a producer at Beenox, revealed their plans for Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. According to Gadbois, the game is scheduled to launch on all major consoles this June; it will also be for the ’super’ official price of $60 on all nex-gen consoles – expect for the Wii – and for the PS2 and Wii it will go for the price of $40.

And the game will also feature a 48 master tracks featuring songs like;

• “Barracuda” by Heart
• “I Love Rock N Roll” by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
• “I Wanna Rock” by Twisted Sister
• “Killer Queen” by Queen
• “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against The Machine
• “Nothin’ But A Good Time” by Poison
• “Them Bones” by Alice in Chains
• “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce

For some apparent reason Twitter is becoming very popular and mostly everyone on the internet is talking about it, and knows about it. However, Robert Bowling, as of lately, has really been growing the feelings towards it and, well, it seems that he’ll, along with the everyone at Infinity Ward, like to know your suggestions for ‘Modern Warfare 2′.

Thus was lunched a program that allows you to submit your suggestions for ‘Modern Warfare 2′ via Twitter, here’s how it works; Originally launched about a week ago the program will ask you questions – via Bowling – like “What are your top feature requests for the Modern Warfare 2 community site?” and “Name one thing you’d like to see in Modern Warfare 2?” With that, that’s when you are supposed to respond with ‘#MW2′ with your suggestions.

[ #MW2 via Twitter]

When releasing a new Tony Hawk title nine years in a row, Activision took 2008 off to institute calling it a part of their ‘innovation plan’ for there Tony Hawk series. But, ever since then they have been very ‘no talk’ on the title, but, boy, does time pass and now it seems that we finally get new – rumored – details on the next Tony Hawk title.

When speaking to Variety’s The Cut Scene blog, two anonymous sources, who have reportedly have seen the game first-hand, said that the next Tony Hawk title will abandon controllers altogether, but instead it will be using ‘board-like’ peripheral, which sounds alot like what the Wii’s Balance Board did in Skate it for the Wii.

These sources say that the game will not be so much about requiring precise balancing, but the focus will be more on “grabbing and manipulating the board” to perform tricks. They also say that the Wii version will be getting a Board also, instead of the the Wii’s Balance Board.

These sources also corroborated the rumor that Robomodo – a new development studio primarily formed by ex-members of EA Chicago – are developing both the game and making the new peripheral.

At the New York Comic-Con event, Activision showed some new gameplay videos of the upcoming X-Men Origins Wolverine video game, but sadly, they we weren’t allowed to release the video because we needed permission to post it. However, one bold youtuber that attend the press conference, showcasing the game, wasn’t scared to get there hands wet, or in this case bloody, and for that we thank them. Anyway, here are the videos that were demonstration at the conference.

Well, you know what they say ‘you really never miss something until it’s gone’ and it seems that Activision has got that feeling all over. Although heavy metal roadie fable Brutal Legend was let go in the Activision-Vivendi merger, Activision still thinks that it has all the rights for the game.

According to the industry weblog The Cut Scene, Activision has sent a later to both EA, who picked up the game after Activision-Vivendi merger, and Double Fine stating that the rights to the game is still under negotiations. Meaning that it debugs EA’s deal, but Double Fine says that it owns the rights to the game.

In the report it says, Activision received payment from Atari to release its rights to Ghostbusters and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and may be seeking the same from EA. But, a rep for EA thinks that ‘Activision would try to sue.’

Many were wondering when the developers were going to release anything on the upcoming Call of Duty title, so have no fear because it seems that time is here.

As a part of Activision’s fourth quarter earnings call, an exec said that the second version of Modern Warfare will most likely be hitting fourth quarter ‘09. No details on the title was given, but we do know that the game is going to be awesome, I’m sorry but when it comes to Modern Warfare my fanboy releases itself.

Anyway, if you didn’t remember, a Twitter post by Robert Bowling, he, kinda, confirmed the there is going being a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but it wasn’t official. But, one can only stop and wonder what they plan for the official announcement.

The fate of the earth and the survival of the human race hang in the balance and it looks like you are, once again, called upon to take on the role of your favorite giant robots. Today in an untimely fashion, it seems that Activision has announced there role in the development of the upcoming move video game Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The will be base off the upcoming move with the same name, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

“The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game will give fans the chance to experience their favorite Autobots and Decepticons  in an all-new, movie inspired adventure packed with the thrilling and explosive action that only the Transformers universe can deliver,” said Rob Kostich, vice president of global brand management, Activision, Inc.

“We are thrilled to announce that after experiencing the rush of commanding colossal robots on their own, players can challenge their friends for the first time ever in full-featured, blistering multiplayer action as their favorite characters.”

I will have to admit that I did indeed stay up to see this video, but it wasn’t because I was bored and had nothing important to do, example sleeping, it’s because I really want this game to be good, an sometimes even great. Anyway, speaking on it, on the season premiere episode of Game Trailers TV they revealed the first trailer for the upcoming movie game, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine amps up the action by bringing to life Wolverine’s wholly unique skills such as his brute strength, regenerative mutant abilities, and indestructible adamantium claws and skeleton in an immersive experience that is fitting to one of the most enduring and popular characters of all time,” said Rob Kostich, vice president, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc.

In such shows as Heroes, Ken Lally, who recently did some mo-cap work in Resident Evil 5, came on to ‘Coin-Op TV’ with a very important secert in the gaming industry.

When talking with ‘losses lips’ Lally revealed that he has been picked to be one of the Voice-Over actors in the next Call of Duty title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Part 2, I mean 6 or whatever.

If you didn’t know, 24’s Kiefer Sutherland had done some work in Call of Duty: World at War even winning awards for his part.

Although, the next Call of duty hasn’t been officially announced by Activision, it is rumored to be that it’s going to be a sequel to Infinity Ward’s CoD4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Part 2.

Watch This Episode on www.theStream.tv

Update: Metallica has revealed the games full track list.

Original: Once again, new Guitar Hero: Metallica tracks are leaked, but not by a member of the press, or even a ’source close to Activision’, the ESRB. Anyway, we know that the full track is, reportedly, coming next week, but this is to juicy to pass up on.

According to the ESRB’s description, Guitar Hero: Metallica features some potentially objectionable lyrics. Specifically in Social Distortion’s “Mommy’s Little Monster,” Metallica’s “Whiplash” and Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” which Metallica covered on 1984’s Garage Days Revisited.

In the description was also nice enough to point out ‘bad words’ in Michael Shenker Group’s “Armed and Ready,” a track already revealed by Game Informer magazine.

[More Guitar Hero: Metallica Tracks Revealed By ESRB via Kotaku]

Originally announced since last April, details of the comic book finally revealed on DC Comic’s Wildstorm website.

The comic books are a mini-series based on the upcoming multiplatform title by Activision, Prototype, they plan to run the comic book for about six issues, which will cost you about 16 quarters ($4 US) a slice, that is when the book releases on April Fool’s Day, April 1.

Desperation:

“Follow New York homicide detectives as they track a serial killer unlike any they’ve ever faced, and enter a new era where human extinction and monstrous evolution collide!”

In 2007, EA’s Skate had proven itself to be a true competitor for Activision’s popular and long-running skate series, Tony Hawk, but what does this year hold for the title? Can EA and Black Box once again claim the crown for best skating title ever made?

Well, it looks like we are going to have to wait and see, but lucky we do not have to wait that long because according to Microsoft’s Xbox site, a Skate 2 demo will be available come January 8 via the “Download & Win” program, which is a sweepstake.

There are two ways to register for this Sweepstakes. Registering online before the close of the Promotion Period, which is between 3:01 A.M. ET on January 8 and 11:55 P.M. ET on January 15, 2009, or register for the Sweepstakes via Xbox LIVE Marketplace by downloading the free Skate 2 Demo Registration Gamer Picture. Sadly there is still no word on the PlayStation demo.

What really is this? Was one of the first question that came to my mind when I first heard of this game back when it was leaked sometime ago. Now, we all know that so many games have been “confirmed” by the many ESRB leaks, but what we didn’t know was that this game was going to be apart of Activision’s Guitar Hero DS era, along with recent games like Guitar Hero On Tour and Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

Depending on how you feel, you may think that these games basically are the same, but apparently they aren’t. Guitar Hero Modern Hits is set to have new tracks, and that’s it, that how it plans to differ from the other games in the series! (which was stated from  the ESRB description).

But, anyway there was details given about  tracks in the game, Sum 41’s “Still Waiting”, Franz Ferdinand’s “The Fallen” and Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer”. These were given thanks to , somewhat, objectionable lyrics for the game which is a reliable indicator that these songs will be in the game.

It came as no shock when this game was revealed, after Activision’s earlier trys with the sweet love band Aerosmith, it was just left when they were planning to release it. Now, however today we finally get a good look at Guitar Hero: Metallica in the form of a trailer,  not a teaser trailer.

“Us being a pretty guitar-oriented band, I think we were pretty much destined to do something with Guitar Hero,” says guitarist Kirk Hammett of Metallica. “It’s a natural sort of relationship. We jumped at the chance.”

Altogether the music video game genre was down six percent in dollar sale for November, but the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises still remain on the genres top. But, unfortunately for EA, which has been suffering of lately, Activision’s property has simply proven itself to be the most popular.

“We should note that while the Rock Band franchise managed to grow in November, Guitar Hero overall still outsold Rock Band by more than 2-to-1 in terms of dollars in November and almost 3-to-1 in terms of units,” which was pointed out by UBS analyst Ben Schachter.

Anyway, the company behind Guitar Hero, Activision, can’t exactly be “jumping for joy.” Activision should be concerned since the franchise did see some significant declines last month.

“The biggest concern around Guitar Hero has to be the fact that Guitar Hero World Tour (12 SKUs) declined 48% in units and 31% in dollars from Guitar Hero III (6 SKUs) on a year-over-year basis. This will fuel concerns that the genre is past its peak,” Schachter added.

“With Activision and others sure to bring new innovation to the genre next year we can’t count it out, but it almost certainly won’t be the growth driver it has been over the past two years.”

[Guitar Hero easily beat Rock Band in November... via Game Daily]

Over the last couple of months we have heard nothing but whispers on this game, it was not until just recently that we heard that the game would be revealed in the next issue of EGM. But, none the less, we all can’t wait to see this game and all its gory, that is why Activision has revealed the release date for the game.

If you didn’t know, the game is base on the upcoming movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine by Twentieth Century Fox and discernibly the game is set to coincide with the movie in May ‘09.

“We have an amazing team with Raven Studios at the helm, creating what will undoubtedly be the quintessential, true-to-character Wolverine video game experience that fans have been craving,” said Rob Kostich, vice president, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine amps up the action by bringing to life Wolverine’s wholly unique skills such as his brute strength, regenerative mutant abilities, and indestructible adamantium claws and skeleton in an immersive experience that is fitting to one of the most enduring and popular characters of all time.”

Well, if you’re a fan of the movie, like me, you may already know that Ghostbusters is more about jokes then scares, but there also was a creepy side to it. I mean that’s what made Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters. And what should make the game any different?

Appearently, shifting from Sierra to Atari gave Terminal Reality sometime to work on Ghostbusters creepy side. When speaking in London today CVG was told by Drew Haworth of Terminal Reality that, “[Terminal Reality] added some more creepy elements, a couple of more puzzle elements… we feel that the combat is in a very solid spot.”

Ghostbusters: The Game was one of the most unfortunate victims of Activision’s merger with original publisher Vivendi, which left the game floating in limbo, until Atari came to TR’s rescue.

“[The move to Atari] allowed us to go back and tweak and see ‘oh, this experience would be enhanced here by adding more scares, more cooldown areas… – pacing basically. We also upgraded some of the in-game cinematics.” add Haworth.

“It wasn’t frustrating as much as our course has changed now,” Haworth said of the switch. “We were certainly happy to get a new publisher. After Vivendi decided not to publish the game we were surprised more than anything else. It also allows us an extension to polish and improve the quality of the game”.

When Activision dropped most of there upcoming games for the merger with Blizzard, that we thought were going to be good, the video game version of the hit movie Ghostbusters was a victim. Then there was that rumor going around that the game was happily picked up by the guys over at Atari, and soon after that things changed.

Now, Atari has confirmed that the game will be releasing in June of next year, which by the is way more specific than “sometime in 2009.” However, the other games dropped by the merger have been pick up for next year release dates.

Well, this just proves that the game isn’t that bad, like as I stated in the article I wrote. According to The Canadian Press, James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace is the second most rented game in Canada on both the 360 and PS3. The game is only second to Resistance 2, on the PlayStation 3, and on the 360 Gears of War 2, which isn’t bad for a movie game. The game is also number one on the Nintendo Wii in Canada. The movie was released two days ago in theaters in the US and was given some very high review all over.

[Blockbuster Video Top 10 game rentals list per platform via The Canadian Press]

Question: How are you able to take a hit franchise to present day, make millions of fans, then send it back into the past and keep your fans? Well, first you will have to get all your fans to return to the game. Then you’re going to need the best reason in the world for them to want to buy it and then they’ll tell everyone about the game, and that should do it. And it looks like Treyarch has mastered this skill – no thanks to Infinity Ward’s unfriendly comments that were made last week – but how well did they master it?

Call of Duty games were never really know for long mission or long campaigns, sadly this game doesn’t divert from that fact. The games campaign is still really short, but this time around they really do step up on the voice acting. The game features well known voices from movies like “The Dark Knight” and the hit TV show “24″ and to add to it, it’s very well scripted.

Instead of the normal WWII shooter environment like Normandy and D-Day, Call of Duty: World at War takes place in the Pacific as well as the Red Army’s reversal to Stalingrad. These places give the game some new environments and battle experiences, from sunny beaches and bombed-out cities. But, there’s also a savage part of war and this game doesn’t pass on it one bit. The Japanese soldiers swarm like bees for a hive on to the battlefield, they even play dead and wait for you to walk into their sick little trap, then they’ll get you. Plus it really doesn’t end there, there’s also a very savage Russian Front with plenty of gunning down of wounded and unarmed soldiers by both fronts in the game.

However, World at War really shines in its Multi-player component, which gives you the ability to tackle missions with your friends in co-op or just do a online single or team game. Even if Modern Warfare had, arguably, one of the greatest multiplayer components in history, this game finds away to build, and build on it good. The game still has its ranking system that lets you unlock perks, weapons, and upgrades which you can use to mix and match for your style. Many of us may miss the helicopter which was featured in Modern Warfare, but this game brings in something so much better, dogs. Which swarm around hunting enemy’s to kill, but it’s way more fun to watch then to be attacked.

Closing Statement:

We can all fight and try to say that this game is better then Modern Warfare, but to do that now will be wrong. The multi-player doesn’t have that big explosion as it did in Modern Warfare, but it does brand something new. The game does have a lot more content then the other game, Modern Warfare, and to boot this is one of the best shooters out their and if you don’t own it now what are you waiting for?

Score: A

Well, Guitar Hero: World Tour has been out for over a week now and Activision has given us a little gift that’s sure to make fanboys happy. We all have seen the last Guitar Hero commercial with A-Rod, Kobe Bryant, Tony Hawk and Michael Phelps. Now, in the latest Guitar Hero: World Tour commercial Heidi Klum, go Heidi!, dances around in her underwear to “that old time rock n roll.” The video is called the slightly naughtier version of the commercial and is said to be Brett Ratner’s personal “director’s cut”, but if you ask me there both just as funny.

“It seems like Heidi Klum is going back to her risky roots with her “Risky Business” shirt-and-underwear style Guitar Hero commercial. This slightly naughtier version is Brett Ratner’s personal “director’s cut.” Were all waiting to see if there are more takes hes still holding on to.”

Personally, I never really notice that these games were different and it looks like THQ has found out why. According to Patent Arcade, THQ has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over trade dress and copyright, which means box-art in this case. The news site reports that the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard is about the upcoming game “SCORE International Baja 1000 The Official Game”. THQ alleges that the game from Activision Blizzard infringes the trade dress and copyrights in THQ’s game “Baja Edge of Control,” which was released in September 2008.

The file (linked below) states that Activision is trying to gain more sales by using the same box-art to confuse consumers that buy the game. Also, it says that Activision Blizzard must change the games box-art prior to it’s release, which is on October 28, 2008, but if Activision Blizzard wins nothing changes.

PDF – THQ Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, Inc. [Patent Arcade]

While we are still waiting to get our hands on the game, we can only stop an wonder what or who will be getting their hands on the Ghostbusters video game. I personally have been waiting for this game since its announcement, and there’s a whole lot of games I have been waiting for, but it’s Ghostbusters and I love Ghostbusters.

When speaking at a radio station in Dallas called 105.3 KLLI, Dan Aykroyd, who was in the original Ghostbusters movie, told them that Atari has indeed picked up the publishing rights for Ghostbusters. The game was recently in “limbo” because Activision didn’t have the means to pick the game up after its combination with Vivendi games.

Many of us were wondering if our online scores in the Beta would be carried over into the full version of the game. According to one of our sources inside Activision, there will be “no ranking carry overs” when the full version of the game is released. The Beta is only for the PC and Xbox 360, there was no other betas released for any other of the system that the game will be released on. Call of Duty: World at War is an action first person shooter that is developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation 2. The game is set for a release in North America on November 11, 2008 and in Europe on November 14, 2008.

There have been many key announcements for Call of Duty: World at War, but what you may not have known is that mostly all the key announcements have been targeted to the PC and Xbox 360. Here’s what dawns the questions, “where’s the PlayStation 3 Call of Duty: World at War love?”. Yesterday, PlayStation Universe revealed that Treyarch and Activision where not planning to release any Beta for the PlayStation version of the game. But, this may not effect some of us because we can’t basically see Beta’s for the PlayStation 3 falling from the sky.

There are many key fans for this franchise on the PlayStation 3, but just because theres alot of upcoming Beta’s for the PlayStation 3 there’s still alot of fans that would love to get their hands on this game that own a PlayStation 3. Also what’s up with the Limited Edition versions for the game this maybe one of the coldest things that Activision has done this year. If you didn’t know the Call of Duty franchise started on the PC and was then push onto consoles. Maybe because the game did sell better on the Xbox 360 then the PlayStation 3 they are trying to push this game more to 360 owners, but as a fan of the PlayStation 3 I will just like to see a little more love for the PlayStation 3 from this game.

Three years ago, 50 cent was Bulletproof. Now, three years later 50 cent is ready to leave “Blood On The Sand”, well not anymore. Today according to the guys over at Kotaku, the sequel to discography-cum-video game 50-Cent: Bulletproof, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand has been canceled. According to the information given to them, the team behind it, Swordfish was likely to be sold off that’s why the game was cancelled. If this rumor happens to be true, yeah it’s a rumor, Blood on the Sand will be the latest casualty of Activision’s purchase of Vivendi Games.

The game was set to take place in the Middle East were 50 Cent was doing a show with G-Unit and after the show G-Unit and 50 go to collect there money and the promoter refuses to pay 50 Cent and G-Unit. The plot kind of goes down hill from there. The game did have some very strong showing like in it’s latest trailer called “World Wide Gangster”.

Update: Sources close to Swordfish Studios have told GamesIndustry.biz that 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand has not been cancelled, despite internet rumours.

With now ex-Project Gotham Racing developer, Bizarre Creations, falling into the arms of Activision we can assure you that Bizarre Creations will not be making the Project Gotham 5. Now, takes to this rumor it looks like Turn 10 will be Developing this game for the Xbox 360. According to Addict Gaming, earlier today a reliable source close to the Development Studio “Turn 10″ told them with some very reliable evidence that Turn 10 will be developing Project Gotham 5. The evidence that was shown to them that not only is proof they are developing the latest addition to the Project Gotham series, but not only that it also showed that they will be announcing it “Within the next two week’s, depending on next weeks NXE announcement”.

Project Gotham is a racing game that was developed by Bizarre Creations published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox gaming console only. The game made it’s first appearance on the original Xbox and was the second best to the original Halo, which was also on the original Xbox.

While it’s still to early to point the figure and say that there’s going to be a sequel to Pure right of the back. We have learned today that video game director Jason Avent is putting into consideration a Pure sequel with DLC for their newly released title, Pure in the future. Today, when talking to Videogaming247, Black Rock director Jason Avent told them that the studio hopes to extend Pure into another game, and that DLC for the first title maybe well on the way. “I hope so,” he said when asked if a sequel was in the question, “We have loads of ideas and bits of unfinished business.”

As the news is still buzzing around the internet today, Activision Blizzard has unmasked that it has brought out U.K. developer FreeStyleGames. Now, according to a leak, FreeStyleGames could be working on DJ Hero, which was trademarked back in February by Activision, and Kotaku has possible collected the first details for the game. In the details given to Kotaku it states that DJ Hero will be a a music rhythm game that will let gamers scratch to the beat of popular mash-ups with a laptop turntable peripheral. The information goes on to state that the game was in development for nearly two years and is expected to hit shelves next summer. Which will explain the recent buy out of the name by Activision.

They go onto talk about the controls system will likely include the ability to use Guitar Hero guitars for versus mode face-offs. Also it talks about the games control system which will feature nearly a half-dozen iterations. With the device looking a lot like a simplified DJ Deck. There is a platter for scratching which will act like the strum toggle on a Guitar Hero guitar. Above the platter are three buttons for sampling. The controller also includes a cross fader and a sound effects dial which will act like the whammy bar in Guitar Hero.

Instead of flowing the musical notes down a guitar neck, DJ Hero will flow the music down and around a virtual record in a half arc. Either left top to middle bottom if you are left handed, or right top to middle bottom if you are right handed.

Currently the wireless controller has grooves molded into the bottom so it will sit comfortably in a player’s lap, though the team is also looking into legs for the deck so gamers can play while standing up.

Have you every wonder how it will be like if Guitar Hero featured sponsorships? Like real in-game sponsorships for really company’s in really life. Well, I’m sorry to say that we are not there yet, but Activision really wants you to feel like your really sponsored by a company. Today, Activision announced that gamers can score in-game sponsorships and gear in Guitar Hero: World Tour from Ampeg, Audio-Technica, EMG Pickups, Ernie Ball, Evans Drumheads, Guitar Center, Krank Amplification, Mackie, Marshall, Orange County Drum & Percussion, Pork Pie Percussion, Regal Tip, Sabian cymbals, Vox and Zildjian drumsticks.

In addition to featuring products, the game will also give your in-game band the chance to play on the same stage as many of their favorite musicians with digital re-creations of Amoeba Music, Live Nation’s House of Blues® Sunset Strip and San Francisco’s AT&T Park.

“Gamers have come to expect a certain level of realism in video games and by collaborating with key brands in the industry we’re able to deliver with Guitar Hero World Tour,” he continues “With the most advanced wireless instrument controllers, the in-game likeness of multiple multi-platinum recording artists and authentic on-stage gear, the game offers the ultimate rock and roll experience.” - Dave Anderson, Sr. Director of Business Development for Activision Publishing, Inc.

According to Joystiq, an Activision PR representative at X08 confirmed that the fifth Call of Duty game will be releasing sometime in November. This just points to the fact that Activision is sticking to their “fall 08″ gap that they set for the game when it was released. If Activision’s November gap is true this could mean that they maybe are trying to release the game the same date as the number one Call of Duty game of all time, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which released on November the fifth. November is also the release month of Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2, this could mean that Activision will pit it’s games with the other power hitters that will be releasing in that month time frame.

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that video game company Radical Entertainment will be laying off about 100 employees, which is almost half its staff. The decision was made by the company’s owner, Activision Blizzard, to reduce the number of titles Radical produces.

“Activision Blizzard is committed to making the best games possible and has elected at this time to reduce the number of titles that Radical is developing from four games to two,” Leah Rubin, Radical’s vice-president of human resources, in an email. “Therefore, we will be proportionately reducing the size of our studio.”

Activision Blizzard said it would go ahead with five games including Radical’s Crash Bandicoot, and Prototype, a new game created by Radical that will debut in 2009. The reductions come in the wake of an ownership change last month that saw France-based Vivendi, which owns Radical, and American video software company Activision, join forces as Activision Blizzard.

When talking with the Quantum of Solace producer, Garrett Young, in an interview he said that he’s “not super impressed” with The Bourne Conspiracy (Video Game). When asked about what he thought of the Bourne Conspiracy video game, Young said “we did download the demo, we did look at it, like we do anything that’s new and coming out,” he explained. “Turok we played and other things that are new, we played GTA… But… yeah… not super impressed with the game… it’s always tough though when you make a game and you don’t have the lead character from the movie.”

Quantum of Solace, which is also known as James Bond: Quantum of Solace The Video Game, is the upcoming video game base of the up and coming James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. The game is the first James Bond title to be published by Activision, which acquired the video game license for the Bond franchise back in 2006. The license was recently owned by EA a video game developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor.

[Quantum of Solace's Garrett Young speaks via OXM]

The latest James Bond game from Activision, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, will be getting a Collector’s Edition. The Collector’s Edition of the game has already pop up on Amazon for $69.99, which is ten dallors more then the official retail price. James Bond: Quantum of Solace will be the first James Bond game from Activision after the license was turned over from EA. There wasn’t any other information given about the games Collector’s Edition.

Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard was very proud to announced that Call of Duty 6 will be developed by Infinity Ward and will be on track for a 2009 release. If you don’t remember, Infinity Ward was the development studio which was behind the Call of Duty franchise and are the mastermind behind Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare.

While this is great news there are still many question that are left to be answered. What time will Call of Duty 6 be placed in? While there is no idea many are rumored to believe that  in 2009 we may be heading the way of the science fiction universe. So will Call of Duty 6 be held in space with squads and or marines fighting the War On Terror. Stay with us we will keep you informed

Activision has revealed some very shocking information today, they have announced that they’ll be droping several of Vivendi’s titles. The downside of this announcement is that other Vivendi Games (namely Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Brütal Legend, WET, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and World in Conflict: Soviet Assault) are not being kept by Activision.

“The only franchises that Activision Publishing will release are based on Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro, as well as Prototype, and one other game that has not yet been announced,” said an Activision representative. “We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing.”

[Activision Drops Several Vivendi Games via IGN]

During Comic-Con, which took place yesterday in San Diego, Activision comfirmed the development of Marvel Ultimate Alliance II: Fusion. Which is scheduled for PS3, Wii and X360, the game is currently in production at Vicarious Visions studios . No other information was given to us, sadly, but if you pick up the latest issue of GameInformer there should be more details in their Marvel Ultimate Alliance II article.

According to a CBC news report, Experience Hendrix has provided Activision with some of the Hendrix’s music for their upcoming Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero: World Tour.  This will be the first time that Hendrix will be featured in the title, the songs that will be featured in the game are “The Wind Cries Mary” and a live version of “Purple Haze,”. An avatar of Hendrix as well also be featured in the game, just like Slash or Tom Morello.

You knew it was going to come sometime, so why should are you so shocked? Just kidding. Today, Activision and Microsoft announced the highly anticipated Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 for Xbox Live Arcade. But, still I find my self thinking more about the upcoming update for the 360 dashboard. Anyway, the game is being developed by the industry veterans at Bizarre Creations and it will be the the sequel to the smash hit, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.

We have some good news and some bad news, the good news is there’s no bad news. According to a report made by PALGN , the OFLC has re-classified Dark Sector and it looks like the game will be hitting stores in australia very soon. The game will be coming in a new version, this upcoming version will feature no decapitation and "toned down … limb severing on humans [only]", which according to the OFLC classification database was still strong enough to earn an MA15+ and a warning against ‘Strong Violence’.

So, maybe there was a little bad news after all………….

The game was originally considered by the OFLC to be too strong for our shores, as a "violent and sometimes gruesome game with a sinister storyline and ominous outcome. The violence and aggression inflicted upon the protagonist is of a high level, naturalistic and not stylised at all."

Discuss: Do you think Dark Sector deserved a MA15+ rating in the first place.

The future of New York City will be in gamer’s hands this fall and starting today Activision, Inc. is allowing them to determine the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows package image. Members of the Spider-Man consumer VIP community can go to www.SeizeControl.com to vote for their favorite videogame package options, all featuring the heroic web-slinger as he prepares to confront a devastated Big Apple. The consumer control campaign will continue through launch, giving fans the opportunity to vote on various aspects of the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows marketing campaign.

Aerosmith, possibly one of the biggest bands in the 1970’s, have teamed up with Activision to create the next installment of the Guitar Hero franchise. Unfortunately Guitar Hero is starting to suffer from the Tony Hawk syndrome and by that I mean that Activision might start running the franchise into the ground. They will just produce the games to get the money because people will buy them and not care what is in it, just look at the title and buy it. This title is the second in that series with Guitar Hero 80’s being the first. It’s just something to put out to get some units sold quick until the next installment comes out this fall.

The career spans 31 songs, with each set of five comprised of three songs by the Aerosmith and two by other bands. As well as unlockable songs spanning the list to about 40 tracks in total. I am a fan of Aerosmith and the set list is not quite what I would have expected for this title. It seems that hardcore fans and possibly your parents may be the only one’s that find this setlist appealing. The set list consists of a lot of classic titles from the 70’s such as "Train Kept A Rollin", "Mamma Kin" and "Toys In The Attic" with other hits that have made the radio up until the album Nine Lives. But some of the songs were remade for this game, changing some of the impact that the songs may have had. "Dream On" is a prime example of this. I would have much rather of had the original recording of the song than a remade version. While this does have smash hits from the guys, Some songs are missing that I think should have made the cut. Where is "Dude Looks Like A Lady","Cryin"."Same Old Song And Dance","Big Ten Inch Record","Falling In Love (is so hard on the knees)" ,"Janie’s Got A Gun", and finally "I Dont Want To Miss A Thing". All great songs I thought should of been included into this set list but for some reason couldnt make the cut.The character models of the band members are a nice addition to the game, but that is about it as far as new content. The game doesn’t offer up much else from the last release, the game plays the same and uses all the same features from before, the visuals are nice and the character models seem to have had a small update but thats about it.

If you’re looking for something new to play with your Fischer price guitars, then of course you can pick this title up. But if you are not a fan of Aerosmith than you can put those hard earned pennies in your piggy bank for the 4th installment of the series this fall. Especially since you wont be able to download any content at all for this title no further hope for extra songs should be had. This title should have just been a download pack instead of a $60 waste pack. Just picked all the big hits from this game and just made them available for download for like $10-$15 dollars. At least then I could have gone back to playing the songs I loved on Guitar Hero III.

Overall Score – C

All Thanks Too Upcoming Writer NOX

Sometime back many websites reported that LucasArts wouldn’t be attending this years E3 events because they stop working with Activision as a regards to the European market. Well, think again. We got news that LucasArts will indeed be delivering the force this E3 event. In addition, to the news we also got word that the collaboration with Activision on the European market was not on the agenda.

We thought Infinity Ward was taking a break after making Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , which made game of the year a rumor came in today saying that there working on a brand new sci-fi title.

An insider had a chance to talk to TalkPlayStation and stated “we are currently working on a new sci-fi title, we cannot release any more information as of yet, we may or may not announce it at E3″.

Seeing that Infinity Ward did great wonderful job with the military genre as a whole, we can have faith that they will not let us down if this rumor is true.

[TalkPlayStation]

In my life I have seen many things but nothing like this. You Don’t Know Jack is a game where high culture and pop culture collide and it really puts you know to the test. Nothing can really be added to what’s said at this time but this game would make a great addition to the Wii’s intelligent library of games. With no word on the developer/publisher Activision is well known on picking up games of this kind.

[YDKJ Homepage]

Sources tell us that today, Activision has confirmed at a conference that after the release of another Guitar Hero game is set to be made, Guitar Hero: Metallica. Metallica is a legendary hard rock group led by James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet. The game was announced for the arrival by the end of the current fiscal year, before March 31, 2009.

[Guitar Hero : Metallica pour 2009 via Jeux-actu]

Activision has done World War 2 and Modern Warfare now it’s time for a new type of Warfare, Futuristic Warfare. It is rumored that Call of Duty 5 will take place in the future, if this rumor ends up being true Call of Duty 5 will be joining games like Gears of War, Resistance, Killzone and Halo.

Could this mean that Activision is trying to continue to dominate the other shooting genres? Only time can tell.

Update:06/10/08 WOW..we are getting alot of searches for call of duty 5 you may want to click here for GamerCenterOnline suprise

[Call of Duty 5: Futuristic warfare? via Pwnamon]

According to the people at Primotech, the June issue of Game Informer has an exclusive cover story but, this time it’s not Gears of War it’s Guitar Hero IV. Just like many other Game Informers this one come with details for the new game from Activision.

"Due to the recent falling-out between Gibson and Activision, Guitar Hero IV’s guitars will not be licensed and instead will be custom-designed by the developer. They will incorporate a currently unrevealed feature that will “directly impact the way you play Guitar Hero in the future.”

"Rock stars can step into the studio to create their own songs and share them with other players online courtesy of the newly minted Guitar Hero Tunes service, but these tracks will be devoid of vocals."

"Players will even be able to design their own musicians, album art, and instruments on-screen from scratch."

"While no song titles were yet confirmed, Van Halen, The Eagles, Sublime, and Linkin Park will all be making appearances on the tracklist. All songs in the game will be master tracks."

[First Guitar Hero IV Details Shed via Primotech]

Activision was planing to release Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 this fall but, thanks to some problem they ran into the game was delayed and set back till 09. The news was revealed on the weekend at the NYC Comic Con when talking to a Activison rep about the game, no other information was giving about the delay.

Also in the interview the rep stated that Luke Cage would be stated in to the plot of the new spider-man, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.