(Ex-) Infinity Ward Vs. Activision (Round 2)

Well, in case you haven't been following the 'soap opera' that is the Infinity Ward / Activision fallout, here's the latest development:

As previously posted here, Jason West and Vince Zampella, former heads of Infinity Ward, developers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, were fired by Activision, for what the latter called 'insubordination'. Well now Messrs. West and Zampella have filed a lawsuit against Activision claiming the publisher is withholding royalty fees the two claim they are still owed. Activision has responded saying their claims are "meritless" and that the company fully supported Infinity Ward.

IGN has managed to obtain a copy of aforementioned lawsuit and uploaded scans of it on their site.

Who knows how this will end... but I'd put money on 'an affair with the tennis instructor". There's always an affair in these things.

Halo 2 is dead - but players will be rewarded by Microsoft!

If you were an original xbox live subscriber and a big Halo 2 player then you have a shot at getting some goodies off Microsoft, for free! This may be the first seal on the way to the Apocalypse, Xbox Live and the term 'Free' don't often mix. To mark the death of backward online compatibility for Halo 2 and all other xbox original support on the 360, Microsoft are giving three months free gold subscriptions, 400ms points and an invite to the Halo Reach beta (without needing ODST) to what they have described as 'Loyal' customers... wooo hooo!!! What dictates as 'loyal' is yet undefined but playing a good bit of Halo 2 on your 360 seems to be an important factor. Perhaps this ties in with the number of years that you have been a member also!? So check your emails cos if your one of the lucky bunch, Microsoft will let you know!

Gear for Geeks and Gamers - Cool site!

We like to plug the good shit we see around the net and this time we wanna let you know about a great site for gamer clothing and bits. So head over to splitreason.com to see what goodies tickle your giblets. Enjoy!

Deus Ex 3 - New Screens and trailer.

Looks like D day is getting closer, thats Deus Ex day of course. I like to see that not all games are goin 'PC'... not as in the personal computer, but as in the madness that is Political Correctness, you can barely scratch your arse these days without someone getting offended cos its cruelty to derrieres... anyway here's a shot of something that will be important to our hero in Deus Ex 3... smokes! Cant wait to see what he drinks and perhaps even the chicks he scores...

Halo Reach - Beta footage leaked... Update!! It is official.

**UPDATE** Bungie have confirmed that this is indeed an official Halo Reach promo (for the alpha build of the beta) - consider yourself informed ahead of the crowd!

Keeping secrets in the game industry these days is about as easy as Paris Hilton keeping on her knickers. This Halo Reach Beta vid below is said to be the real thing but it is unconfirmed. It looks pretty nice and well polished so it could well be, either way it is fun to watch and wonder, enjoy!

Infinity Ward Vs. Activision - Trouble in Paradise? (Update)

Infinity Ward president Jason West and studio head Vince Zampella have left the company, appearing to have been sacked by the studio's owner Activision amid dramatic scenes and claims of breach of contract and insubordination. Activision alledgedly then sent some 'heavies' around to the Infinity Ward studios.

G4 turned up a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Activision earlier in the day indicating that the publisher was investigating senior staff at Infinity Ward, and expecting to sack and sue them.

"The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward," the filing read. "This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation."

Meanwhile, Kotaku turned up a Facebook status update from West that read, "Jason West is drinking. Also, no longer employed." His profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn also appeared to have been updated, showing his role as "President/Game Director/CCO/CTO at Infinity Ward" as a "Past" employment.

Game creator Tim Schafer, whose Brutal Legend was dropped by Activision before being picked up by EA, commented on his Twitter: "Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It's just how the beast communicates."

More news as it comes in...

Update: New 'Call of Duty' Title Announced
In what may not be an unrelated story, Activision has announced Sledgehammer Games, a newly formed studio led by former Visceral Games executives Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey, will develop a new Call of Duty title that will "extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre."

The publisher also confirmed it will release another Call of Duty title in 2011, but it's unclear as of now if this is the same title Sledgehammer is currently developing. This leaves the door open for another studio, possibly Infinity Ward, to develop the 2011 title.

The company also confirmed Treyarch is handling development on the Call of Duty title to be released this fall. Meanwhile, Infinity Ward is still set to develop and release the first two downloadable map packs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Hmm... the thick plottens.

Splinter Cell: Conviction to be bundled with a 250GB Xbox 360.

Splinter Cell: Conviction will be the next game bundled with a 250GB Xbox 360.

Xbox Live's "Major Nelson" revealed the 'Super Elite' Bundle on his blog.

The "Xbox 360 Splinter Cell: Conviction Special Edition Bundle" will cost $399 (no prices for Ireland as yet - but expect a wholly unfair price point) and will be available in early April. Inside are a standard copy of the game, two wireless pads and a large capacity 250 GB hard drive.

There is no customised case as seen with previous game tie-ins (Halo, MW2, etc.), and there's still no sign of a standalone 250GB HD for sale.

Splinter Cell: Conviction will be released for PC and Xbox 360 on 16th April.

Want to study Game Development? Here's the best places in the USA...

So you want to make games... don't we all! Here are the Top 50 United States colleges for Game study. If you live in the U.S. or would consider studying there then this is for you. This is compiled for you by 'The Princeton Review' and 'GamePro'. Some of the top of that bunch are:

1. University of Southern California, Interactive Media Division
2. DigiPen Institute of Technology
3. Drexel University, RePlay (Digital Media & Computer Science)
4. Becker College, Game Design and Game Programming
5. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences
6. The Art Institute of Vancouver, Game Art & Design/Visual & Games Programming
7. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD)
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab

PS3 - Busted Update!! - It's Fixed!

Apparently things at sony are golden again and the PS3 firmware issue is fixed so you may turn it on now. Yay! And guess what... it fixed itself! Yes, your PS3 is magical. All the details are on the Sony Blog.

In the post Patrick Seybold - Sr. Director said this:

"We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally."

Great eh! We are safe... for another four years at least. If only Microsoft's 'Red Ring Of Death' fixed itself also!

PS3 - Busted!!! Houston, we have a cluster fook!

If you thought the 'red ring of death' issue was funny then you're going to love this! As reported on Sky News and every other site on the web, it's a heavily rainy day for the Sony PS3, with many early models 'breaking' around the globe.

When I say breaking, I mean that users cannot access the PSN network, getting a system error (8001050F - Hardware failure) on attempting it and reports of data loss as in trophies, game saves and DLC content going missing from machines. Holy shit!!! Needless to say this is a serious problem for Sony who claim they are doing their best to fix the issue.

It is apparently caused by the leap year when clocks hit March 1st last night and is said to be a similar bug to the 'Y2K' bug at the turn of the millennium. Basically the PS3's clock is having a crisis and causing all the trouble. Luckily for many, the 'Slim' models seem to be unaffected.

Sony are tweeting status reports so you can follow the progress, one tweet said:

"We're narrowing down the issue and continue to work to restore service to all. Updates as soon as we have them. Stay tuned."

I'll bet there are heads rolling at Sony as they didn't even seem to see this coming! Sony's David Wilson also had some good news for PS3 owners:

"Those affected can still use their machines for offline play or other functionality that doesn't require network access."

Ah, poor Sony, just when they were starting to make ground and with the release of 'Heavy Rain', this is a real upset for them. Hopefully they can sort it out soon. Damned glad I have an Xbox as well though! Stop sniggering Microsoft people... it could easily have happened to you too!

PS3 Meltdown

Playstation 3 owners have been left at one heck of a loose end this morning with news breaking of massive meltdown on the PSNetwork.

Tweets abound of an inability to play PS3 originals, connection loss to the network and even reports of trophy data being wiped out completely.

The cause of the issue? Well it's too early to tell but there are rumors it could be attributed to some sort of 'Leap Year Miscalculation' similar to the infamous Y2K bug with some gamers reporting their PS clock has set to Dec. 31st 1999! Sounds like a bit of a mess to us....

Sony are saying that a patch 'might' fix what is understood to be a firmware problem with Dave Wilson from Sony stating "We are working flat out to resolve the issue"

However, it appears they are as confused as the 33 million people on the Network who will potentially be affected by the issue....

So if you intend to switch on the PS3 when you get home from work be advised!

More to follow....

Just Cause 2 - Loony Stunt!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 'Just Cause 2' is shaping up to be a good looking li'l game! The first one kinda sucked balls but mistakes have been fixed and new approaches taken so keep your bo-peeps out for this! This makes 'Top Gun' look like a baby's dirty nappy!