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News
New Half-Life 2 fan film brings Adrian Shephard to City 17, is totally authentic until the Kung Fu starts (The Orange Box)
What is it with Half-Life 2 fans and quality film-making? While fan films based on any other series tend to be variable like Star Trek movies, the H-L universe has some stunning non-professional cinematic entries. Like this. And this. And now there’s Beyond Black Mesa, a professional-as-hell-looking fan-made short set five years after the seven hour war (during which the Combine made Earth its new back yard) which tells the story of the human rebellion pre-Freeman’s return.
The hero is one Adrian Shephard, the protagonist of H-L1 expansion Opposing Force. In canon, he’s still lost to space-time by way of G-Man tinkering, but it’s good to see him back. And overall, this trailer gives the impression that the film is a brilliantly authentic effort, despite the brief lapses into Kung Fu leg sweeps and Max Payne window dives. The quick tease of Ravenholme however, more than makes up for those little transgressions. …
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Expect a new Call of Duty title to release during the second half of 2011. During an earnings report, Activision Blizzard revealed plans for the next installment of the series… …
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Should violent videogames be protected as a form of free speech? Do we need tougher laws that prohibit the sale of violent games to minors? The Supreme Court is on the case and recently heard oral arguments for the Schwarzenegger v. EMA case. Fortunately, The Daily Show’s John Hodgeman has the solution. Find out we can make violent games less attractive to children… …
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Huge Atlantis level cut from final game.
Sony has offered a glimpse at an enormous Atlantis stage that was cut out of God of War II.
In 2005 senior level designer Jonathan Hawkins was given the task of creating a stage set in the mythical submerged city for the PlayStation 2 sequel but the content ended up being cut due to “some high-level changes”.
The platform holder posted design concepts for the level and a clip of Hawkins talking through his work, which you can see below, on its PlayStation blog.
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Activision executives confirm new first-person installment in series will arrive in latter half of next year; no word on developer.
Today, Activision Blizzard issued a better-than-expected earnings report in which it announced a $51 million quarterly profit. In a conference call with analysts afterward, executives revealed further details on the publisher’s future plans.
One detail that was revealed was that the Call of Duty series will once again have a fresh first-person installment late next year. “We will launch a new first-person action title during the back half of 2011,” Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said. This sentiment was later echoed by Activision COO Thomas Tippl, who said that “Next year’s Call of Duty will be a first-person shooter.”
The executives did not name the game or which studio was developing it. A likely suspect is Modern Warfare 3, which court documents identified as being in development at Infinity Ward as of May. That same month, Activision said the studio, which had lost over 35 members following the firing of its founders in March, continued to work on its “next big project.”
A second Call of Duty is also in the works from newly formed studio Sledgehammer Games. Though Activision has said this title would take the Call of Duty series into the action adventure genre, a May job listing indicated it would also be a first-person shooter. Activision has not said when the Sledgehammer title will be released, but said it was not the unnamed COD project slated for next year–presumably Modern Warfare 3.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Call of Duty FPS confirmed for late 2011” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:18:14 -0700 -
Square Enix firing off quartet of add-ons for mech-based shooter on 360, PS3, PC, beginning today.
Get the full article at GameSpot
“Front Mission Evolved deploying DLC in Nov.” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:59:29 -0700 -
Activision not put off by falling sales.
The Hero franchise will be back in 2011, Activision has confirmed, despite dismal sales of both Guitar Hero: Warrior of Rock and DJ Hero 2.
Speaking at an investor call today, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said, “In 2011 we’ll have releases for our other proven franchises including the Hero brand, Spider-Man, X-Men and Transformers.”
No details were given on which flavour of the franchise we’ll see – Guitar, DJ or both.
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New co-op adventure bringing medieval supernatural action to PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 next summer.
Today, Atlus announced it will publish The Cursed Crusade, an all-new action adventure game. Due out next summer for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, the game is in development at Parisian shop Kyloton, the studio behind the 2005 shooter Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport. The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB, but its trailer (below) looks violent enough to be all but guaranteed an M for Mature rating.
Though Atlus claims that Cursed Crusade will have historically accurate locations, its emphasis will be on the supernatural predicament of its two cursed protagonists: The templar knight Denz and the rogue mercenary Esteban. Both men are caught up in the midst of the Fourth Crusade to the Holy Land, but they have their own reasons to embark on the quest–to free themselves of a curse that imperils their very souls.
In terms of gameplay, Cursed Crusade will offer both split-screen and online cooperative play for up to two persons. Its storyline will have five chapters and span 40 missions, most of which are set in medieval Europe’s biggest cities. Combat will have an emphasis on melee weaponry, with over 130 deadly items to choose from and 90-plus combos.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Atlus unveils Cursed Crusade” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:03:05 -0700 -
Megapublisher beats expectations, reports $745 million for July-September quarter; full-year earnings projection revised up to $4.28 billion.
Accountants and gamers alike are eagerly awaiting next week’s release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest installment in Activision Blizzard’s highly successful first-person shooter franchise. However, the publisher showed today that the modern-military series wasn’t the only way it was able to turn a dime, announcing better-than-expected financial results for the quarter ended September 30.
During the three-month period, Activision Blizzard achieved sales of $745 million, well above estimates of $600 million for the quarter. The publisher also made massive gains in net income compared to last year, growing profit from $15 million during the third quarter in 2009 to $51 million in 2010. The company’s profit resulted in $0.04 earnings per diluted share, compared to projections of a break-even result.
“For the third quarter, we exceeded our net revenues and earnings per share outlook and delivered strong year-over-year growth,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a statement. “Our better-than-expected results are due to our leadership in online entertainment, including strong performance from Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty franchise, and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty.”
Kotick went on to note that nearly half of the company’s revenue during the quarter–$348 million, to be exact–came from subscriptions and online revenues. In October, Blizzard Entertainment touted a new milestone for its monumentally successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, saying the global subscriber base has reached 12 million players.
Activision also saw production out of another of Blizzard’s franchise’s, Starcraft II. As of September 1, the highly regarded sci-fi real-time strategy title sold more than 3 million units worldwide, having gone on sale in July. The game sold more than 1.5 million units within 48 hours of release.
Activision Blizzard also raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company now expects full-year 2010 revenues to come in at $4.28 billion, EPS of $0.51. Those figures are up from previous projections of $4.18 billion in sales and $0.49 EPS for the fiscal and calendar year.
The publisher attributed the upward revision to its better-than-expected third quarter performance, as well as its fourth-quarter hits-in-waiting, the aforementioned Black Ops and World of Warcraft’s third expansion, Cataclysm. Of the former, Activision said that it expects the game to be “one of the top entertainment properties of the holiday season,” with preorders projected to set an industry record.
In a post-earnings conference call, new Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg confirmed that a new Call of Duty will arrive during the latter half of 2011. “We will launch a new first-person action title during the back half of 2011,” he said. Activision later clarified this statement to say that the game would fall within the first-person shooter genre.
Hirshberg did not indicate which Activision-owned studio would be handling the game. However, Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward are known to be working on new installments in the franchise.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Starcraft II sells 3M, Activision Blizzard reports $51M profit” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:41:12 -0700 -
Megapublisher beats expectations, reports $745 million for July-September quarter; full-year earnings projection revised up to $4.28 billion.
Accountants and gamers alike are eagerly awaiting next week’s release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest installment in Activision Blizzard’s highly successful first-person shooter franchise. However, the publisher showed today that the modern-military series wasn’t the only way it was able to turn a dime, announcing better-than-expected financial results for the quarter ended September 30.
During the three-month period, Activision Blizzard achieved sales of $745 million, well above estimates of $600 million for the quarter. The publisher also made massive gains in net income compared to last year, growing profit from $15 million during the third quarter in 2009 to $51 million in 2010. The company’s profit resulted in $0.04 earnings per diluted share, compared to projections of a break-even result.
“For the third quarter, we exceeded our net revenues and earnings per share outlook and delivered strong year-over-year growth,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a statement. “Our better-than-expected results are due to our leadership in online entertainment, including strong performance from Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty franchise, and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty.”
Kotick went on to note that nearly half of the company’s revenue during the quarter–$348 million, to be exact–came from subscriptions and online revenues. In October, Blizzard Entertainment touted a new milestone for its monumentally successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, saying the global subscriber base has reached 12 million players.
Activision also saw production out of another of Blizzard’s franchise’s, Starcraft II. As of September 1, the highly regarded sci-fi real-time strategy title sold more than 3 million units worldwide, having gone on sale in July. The game sold more than 1.5 million units within 48 hours of release.
Activision Blizzard also raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company now expects full-year 2010 revenues to come in at $4.28 billion, EPS of $0.51. Those figures are up from previous projections of $4.18 billion in sales and $0.49 EPS for the fiscal and calendar year.
The publisher attributed the upward revision to its better-than-expected third quarter performance, as well as its fourth-quarter hits-in-waiting, the aforementioned Black Ops and World of Warcraft’s third expansion, Cataclysm. Of the former, Activision said that it expects the game to be “one of the top entertainment properties of the holiday season,” with preorders projected to set an industry record.
In a post-earnings conference call, new Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg confirmed that a new Call of Duty will arrive during the latter half of 2011. “We will launch a new first-person action title during the back half of 2011,” he said. Activision later clarified this statement to say that the game would fall within the first-person shooter genre.
Hirshberg did not indicate which Activision-owned studio would be handling the game. However, Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward are known to be working on new installments in the franchise.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Starcraft II sells 3M, Activision Blizzard reports $51M profit” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:41:12 -0700
