Commander Fury

Story by Adam Rosenberg @ G4TV.com Someone had the brilliant idea of combining Call of Duty with Star Wars, the result of which is a newly released mod for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. You can check out the full release trailer below, but the footage doesn’t really start until roughly a minute in. It’s fitting that I get to close out my first day on the morning news beat for TheFeed with a post that combines two subjects that are very near and dear to my heart. On the one hand we’ve got Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the game that finally convinced me to put on a headset and shoot at people online. Then there’s Star Wars, which I could easily wax joyfully about for thousands of words. Let’s just leave it at this: I own actual Wampa fur. The mod is the work of the German blackMonkeys.de team, and it can be downloaded for free right here. It’s clear even in the brief look you get from this trailer that lots of time and love went into making this mod a reality. There are seven maps in all: Mos Eisley, Bespin, Bestine, “Not A Cave,” Jundland, Jundland Dusk and Anchorhead.*You’ll only be able to enjoy the mod if you’ve got a PC version of the game though, so console players will sadly just have to hope for another Star Wars: Battlefront game. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Adam Rosenberg @ G4TV.com The first of a series of “Battleblogs” has been posted on Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3 website, with lead multiplayer designer Lars Gustavsson offering a few details on the October 25 release’s multiplayer. The underlying idea behind all of the team’s efforts is pretty simple: “We’re not telling you how to play the game,” Gustavsson writes. “You choose.” In the case of Battlefield 3‘s multiplayer, choice involves giving people a wider range of options to choose from when they want to shoot virtual people online. One example is the return of Team Deathmatch, a game type which has been absent from the series since Battlefield 1942. Players will also be able to opt for infantry-only matches, which cut vehicles out of the battlefield. The expected Conquest and Rush modes will be back as well, but that too ties in with the idea of giving players more flexibility. Gustavsson is careful to note that there’s more to come beyond confirmation of TDM and infantry-only matches. Additional Battlefield 3 multiplayer details are promised soon, with more multiplayer modes and “new features that change how you can play the game” still to be revealed. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Stephen Johnson @ G4TV.com Tolkien fiends have had an uneven road when it comes to video games. In a sense, every “high fantasy” RPG is based on Lord of the Rings to a greater or lesser extent, but games directly based on Tolkien have not always been outstanding, and there isn’t really one title that captures the unique majesty of JRR’s books. But I predict that this is about to change when Lord of the Rings: The War in the North is released. According to Warner Brothers, it will be coming this fall to a PC, PS3 or 360 near you. Along with the release window, we’ve got details on LOTR:WITN‘s special edition, and some retailer-specific incentives, too. There’s a sweet picture of the special edition’s quiver case as well. Physical content of the War in the North special edition: Ranger of the North Quiver Case War in the North art book featuring concept art of key characters in the game, various enemies and beautiful environments in Middle-earth Inside Look: The Music of War in the North—content includes: interviews and footage of legendary composer Inon Zur at Abbey Road Studios and the E3 2011 Concert event, along with three tracks from the game soundtrack Digital content: Ranger of the North Avatar for Xbox Live (Xbox 360 sku) – includes the Ranger armor set, helmet, quiver and bow War in the North Theme Pack (PS3 sku) – includes War in the North wallpaper, fonts, icons and much more! The Lord of the Rings: War in the North video game All of that can be yours for $129.99. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Jonathan Leack @ PlaystationLifestyle.net 2011 has already been chock-full of great games (LittleBigPlanet 2, inFamous 2, etc.) , and awesome surprises (Vita for $249.99 anyone?), and the best part is that we’re only halfway through. Electronic Arts has a huge roster, as usual, and according to one of their staff, some great announcements will be revealed in the short-term. In anticipation of some exciting news this week, Wendy Spander, Senior Events and Media Manager at EA, posted a Tweet sharing her excitement about the EA Summer Showcase. Looking forward to the 3 day weekend – then back to work preparing for the big EA Summer Showcase on Thursday. Big announcements ahead! The EA Summer Showcase is a small, yearly event that allows the company to show off their games to media. We already know that Battlefield 3 will be one of the hot ticket items there, but what might the big announcement be? Many anticipate that one of the major announcements will be Respawn Entertainment’s first game, and it’s likely that some news regarding already existing titles will be at the forefront of the event. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Brenna Hillier @ VG247.com Now in its second week, the Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception multiplayer beta has been updated with two new gameplay modes. As of an unspecified time on Tuesday in the US, the beta will be thrown open to the public, Naughty Dog reminds us on its blog, which means you no longer need a PS Plus subscription or entry code to try it out. Head into the PS Store and await it with glee. The client has been updated, too. New in 1.00.647 are two of the more unique game modes, Team Objective and Co-op Hunters. No word on fixes for the buggy invite system though! If only. Naughty Dog has also added new content to Uncharted TV, the neat video roll you can browse through while waiting for matchmaking – although with more players, those wait times will hopefully go down. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception releases exclusively for PlayStation 3 in early November. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Jordan Mallory @ Joystiq.com Hold on to your butts, Internet, because this party is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better. According to Game Informer, a Senate Bill has been introduced which, if passed, would make streaming unauthorized copyrighted material a felony, resulting in up to 5-years of jail time. Bill S.978 states that “10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works” will result in “not more than 5 years” of imprisonment, so long as the performance in question is valued at at-least $2,500 USD, or if the value of a license to legally “perform” the content is valued at $5,000 or more. These are, in essence, the same criteria that allow for DMCA take-down notices to be issued by copyright holders, however jail time and felony status are not currently associated with this particular flavor of copyright infringement. Should this bill jump through all the right hoops, its broadly worded contents could potentially cover everything from homemade gameplay clips (commonly referred to “Let’s Play” videos), to fan-made music videos, webcam cover songs, and anything else that involves copyrighted music or video. S.978 could also potentially cover cell-phone videos of concerts and press events, making 13-year-old Beliebers and jaded gaming journalists alike equally in danger of losing their right to vote. If accepted into law, these addenda will be attached to existing copyright laws and will not only apply to YouTube users, but to the sites that embed YouTube content as well. Internet activism group Demand Progress has set up a web-form for those who disagree with the legislation and wish to communicate their displeasure to their local representatives. We would be concerned about the bill’s implications as well, but fear not dear reader: the legislation doesn’t cover puppet shows as far as we can tell, so Joystiq Playhouse’s shadow-kabuki production of Battle Arena Toshinden should still be on track. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Johnny Cullen @ VG247.com PlayStation 4 will have motion controls on par with Kinect, according to a heavy DigiTimes rumor. The report claims that production on the machine will begin at the end of the year for a 2012 launch from Foxconn and Pegatron Technology. It also cites a shipment number of 20 million units for the launch. It follows several reports in the last couple of weeks of a E3 2012 unveil for the next Xbox, with Nintendo also prepping Wii U for a release next year. Kotaku had previously reported a 2014 launch at the latest for both the new Sony and MS machines, or 2013 at the earliest if shoved. Recently, however, SCEA boss Jack Tretton seemed to dismiss any talk of a next-gen PlayStation arriving soon. “What we’ve seen from the competition is trying to add features that already exist in PlayStation 3. … I wouldn’t look for any discussion of a next generation PlayStation for quite some time,†he said. Here’s the salt. There’s plenty of it. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Richard Mitchell @ Joystiq.com Some Mortal Kombat fans are willing to accept that Kenshi – available July 5 – is just another dude with a weapon and magical powers. Others, however, demand narrative justification for his participation in the tournament that will decide Earthrealm’s fate. For that latter group, here’s a trailer. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Delriach @ thesixthaxis.com NetherRealm Studios has released a new trailer for MK9 showing off the Klassic skins for Noob Saibot and Smoke. The DLC, which is free, will be released on July 5th for both consoles. All you need to do is either download the latest MK compatibility pack or purchase Kenshi. Check out the trailer below. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Cameron Teague @ PlaystationLifestyle.net Japanese website V-Jump recently played host to the debut trailer for the recently announced Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generation. In the trailer, we get a look at a young Naruto fighting it out with an older Naruto, as well as a few other fight scenes between other characters in the Naruto universe. While the clip is only 46 seconds long and is not the best quality, you can still figure out exactly what to expect from this game if you haven’t played any previous Naruto games. Lots of fast paced fighting with tons of interesting characters and fun moves to perform. In Ultimate Ninja Storm Generation, the game will include characters from both past and present. While not a lot of information is known about the game right now, we should know a lot more by this weekend. The game will be a part of Namco Bandai’s lineup at the Japan Expo in Paris. Until then, enjoy the trailer below and look forward to more news coming soon. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Andrew Groen @ VG247.com. There’s not a whole lot of meat to this story, but it’s a juicy tidbit nonetheless. Infinity Ward has stated that killstreaks will be reimagined in Modern Warfare 3. We have nothing more to go on than that, but you can thank Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling for sparking our curiosity. It doesn’t appear to be some kind of a small tweak either. “We changed the entire way the killstreak system works,†said Bowling. “I can’t go into detail yet, but I will share when I can.†Thanks, Destructoid. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Christopher Grant @ Joystiq.com. A smaller portfolio isn’t the only thing Activision Publishing is cribbing from its sister company, Blizzard. A major component of supporting massive brands like Call of Duty (and World of Warcraft and StarCraft) is fan service and Activision is ready to take its support of the heretofore nebulous Call of Duty community to the next level with Call of Duty XP 2011, a two-day gathering promising “total Call of Duty immersion” at a “secure 12-acre compound in the urban confines of Los Angeles.” Earlier this week, we had a chance to speak with Eric Hirshberg, Activision Publishing CEO, about the announcement. “Call of Duty XP is going to be the ultimate fan experience for Call of Duty fans. A two day, immersive live event for fans of Call of Duty,” Hirshberg told Joystiq. “We think it’s going to set a new bar for experiential live fan-based events.” That experience includes a first look at the multiplayer component of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the “full feature functionality” of the still opaque Call of Duty Elite online service, a $1 million CoD tournament sponsored by Activision and “lead sponsor” Xbox 360, and a handful of other big ticket opportunities. “We are constructing a full-scale replica of one of our multiplayer maps as a paintball stadium for fans,” Hirshberg said. “We’re reconstructing the legendary level from Modern Warfare 2, The Pit, which fans can actually run.” More interested in what you’re going to be able to eat at an all-Call of Duty event? “You’ll be able to eat at Burger Town from Modern Warfare 2,” Hirshberg added, quite seriously. How does one fill a two-day event with just Call of Duty? “We’re going to have keynote speeches, press conferences, panels with all of the key developers, and the ability to get to the know the developers up close and personal,” Hirshberg explained. “We don’t have the full schedule of speeches, but it will be anything you want to know to get a behind-the-scenes look at the development process and the people responsible for creating the game and the franchise. Obviously we’re going to shine a big spotlight on our developers at this event.” Unlike BlizzCon, Call of Duty XP will be focused on just one game; don’t expect any other Activision properties to make an appearance here. “This is a pure experience to give back to the Call of Duty fan community,” Hirshberg said. “It is completely focused on Call of Duty.” But that doesn’t mean the team at Activision didn’t look for advice from Blizzard. Hirshberg told us, “We’ve learned everything we could from Blizzard with their experience with BlizzCon. They were very helpful giving us some of the cheat sheet and learnings from past experiences.” “More than 6,000″ tickets will go on sale on July 19 for $150 each. Considering more than 25K people attended last year’s BlizzCon, which still managed to sell out in minutes, not hours, the scale of the event seems conservative to us. “We wanted to have it be a size where everybody who’s there has an A+ experience,” Hirshberg explained. “We didn’t want to create a situation where people were standing too long in line, or having an experience where we couldn’t deliver an A+ experience for every single attendee.” And at around 6,000 attendees at $150 a pop, Activision is raising less than $1 million. “The event itself will cost far more to produce than the amount that we would receive in ticket prices anyway,” Hirshberg said. Regardless, 100 percent of the ticket sales will benefit the Call of Duty Endowment, the non-profit organization that Activision founded to help place veterans returning home into jobs. For Hirshberg, the event is not only about “raising money for a very good cause” but “it’s also to give back to the fans.” With that few tickets available, having a solid online component to the event is paramount. “We can really reach out to millions of people if they’re interested, millions of fans worldwide, who can feel like they’re there,” Hirshberg told us. “Obviously they won’t be having the same experience as the people who are there, but it will be a pretty good approximation of the live event, experiencing it through social media, through constant updates, through interviews, through photos, it will be like you’re there.” Where there is is still a mystery. All the company would say is that it’s at a 12-acre site in Los Angeles, but Hirshberg did provide some additional hints. “When you step into it, before we do a stitch of art direction or design to it, it feels like you’ve stepped into a scene from the game,” Hirshberg teased. The event will be two days long, on September 2 and 3, and Hirshberg says that prospective attendees will want to attend both days. “Every ticket will be good for both days and you won’t want to miss either one of them.” At the end of the second day, Hirshberg promised “AAA talent” would close out the show. “That will probably be worth the price of admission in and of itself,” he said, noting that they weren’t quite ready to reveal the talent just yet. If you’re interested in attending, you’ll want to sign up at callofduty.com/xp and await further instructions. It remains to be seen if the Call of Duty community will appreciate a fan event like XP 2011 but when asked about the apparently obvious future installments, Hirshberg told us, “We’ll have to see, but that’s certainly how we’re thinking about it now.” While the idea of bringing one of the web’s most toxic communities together in meat space is … troubling, we’re having a hard time being critical when the focus is split between fan service and charity. We’ll see how well Activision pulls it all off this September. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Andrew Groen @ VG247.com. In the midst of their upcoming announcement about a new downloadable content pack for Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar has announced that players will received quadruple experience points for RDR online until Monday. We’re left wondering if this could be a nonchalant cue that the DLC could actually be an multiplayer pack. Perhaps Rockstar wants players to get used to playing again before they make the announcement. Either way, while you’re waiting to find out the big DLC news you can sate your cowboyish desires and posse-up on Xbox Live. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Joseph Peterson @ PlaystationLifestyle.net Yes, it has already been an entire year since the paid service of PlayStation Plus launched, and it has been quite successful. This most likely is due to the high amounts of discounts and bonuses that users get with the service. One of the huge perks of the service is that PlayStation Plus users are able to store their game saves online so nothing happens to them. Now that PlayStation Plus is 1 year old, Sony has a great deal for users in celebration of it’s birthday – at least in the US. Sony is now offering a great addition of “Birthday Bonus Months†when purchasing PlayStation Plus. By purchasing PlayStation Plus for 1-year you then receive an extra 3-months as a bonus, and those that choose to get the 3-month package will receive 1 extra month as a bonus. Sony has some stats from the first year of the service and the amount of content given is amazing: More than 50 Free Games Over 100 Free DLC Items (Add-ons, Avatars, Themes) 170+ Discounts Over 100 Exclusives and Early Access items $800 + in Savings Below is the birthday flyer summarizing the deal: This deal begins today and is available through July 11th, be sure to check it out so that you don’t miss out on this great deal. Sony Europe has yet to announce a similar deal. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Jimmy Lara @ TheParanoidGamer.com Beginning this Friday around 10 AM PST (1PM EST) you will be able to rack up double XP on Call of Duty Black Ops. This promotion runs until Tuesday July 5th. Although usually this only happens for the platform that released the map pack, this time around it’ll be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and the PC version of the game. The popular gamemode Nuketown 24/7 will also be making an appearance this weekend. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story By Matthew Reynolds @ DigitalSpy.com Call of Duty: Black Ops may be given more map packs, Treyarch has teased. In an interview with Digital Spy, design director David Vonderhaar would not deny the possibility of more downloadable content for the first-person shooter. When asked whether Treyarch would stop at three map packs, Vonderhaar said: “I can’t talk to anything beyond ‘Annihilation’, but keep your eyes peeled…” ‘Annihilation’ features four new multiplayer maps – Hanger 18, Drive-In, Silo, Hazard – and Zombies arena Shangri-La. Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack ‘Annihilation’ is available now on Xbox Live. PlayStation Network and PC versions will be available next month. Read the full ‘Annihilation’ interview with Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Article and images by: CritiKiL I haven’t pre-ordered anything in awhile. I mostly am able to get a game, console or accessory online, and now they even send the items so that they are in your house either on the release day or before. ‘Exclusive Content’ ~ Yeppers, there really isn’t any of that going on (…for the most part!) because it’s not the stores which give you the content it’s the item’s developers.*Right now the only exclusivity I’ve seen, is the relationship that Microsoft has with XBox Live with COD title games arriving first and other console owners having to wait at least a month later ~ Boooh! Lately Gamestop has been promoting the *’pre-ordering’ of DLC, even using the word ‘exclusive destination’ for the upcoming*“Annihilation” DLC for*Call of Duty: Black Ops. They did it with Halo: Reach’s ‘Noble Map Pack’, offering ‘Free stuff’ ~ a Flaming Mark V Spartan Helmet for your Xbox Live Avatar.**Yay,*free stuff — but that’s beside the point. The point is, GameStop is taking pre-orders on DLC (downloadable content) as Exclusive, but I thought the reason for pre-ordering was to secure a copy in case the store runs out of stock? That’s not the case for DLC. It looks as-if GameStop’s strategy for dealing with a scarcity-free market…is to hope nobody notices the lack of scarcity.*Well I’m sorry to say that this just isn’t true. Let’s make a general comparison to the ‘exclusivity’ of DLC and the proceedures for it’s apparent ‘scarcity’ of availability: To pre-order DLC from Gamestop you’ll have to: 1) Visit the store and pre-order it. 2) Wail until the actual release day (not ‘before’ but on that day!). 3) Recieve a download voucher in your e-mail then enter code and play. Whereas, to get your DLC through XBox Live, all you have to do is: 1) Order it on release day and play! Now I’m not a lazy guy, but for there NOT being any advantages and NO scarcity of availability…I’ll take my chances in ‘ordering the DLC from my sofa’ ~ lmao! In my experience the only things worth pre-ordering are new consoles, since they tend to be in short supply. But DLC? ~ Looks like Gamestop is blowing something up our ___’s. They’re making us start to think that DLC might one day be ‘out of stock’ (Forgive me but this is really funny stuff here ~ lol!) In closing I’d like to say to ‘keep your eyes open to the hype’ and, ‘The whole World’s a Circus, but just don’t be the Clown’. DLC is never scarce in demand that you have to go to Gamestop, to get it. Let us know what you think? Reply to this thread… Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Most opinions on blogs, about Gamestopâ„¢ aren’t very positive. This made me look into ‘How GameStopâ„¢ started’. It all began, with a small software retailer by the name of Babbage’s. I’m staying totally neutral in this, only researching**how a small beloved game retailer could transform into the biggest/most hated video game retailer around…in under twenty years. History: GameStop™’s roots can be traced all the way back to the year 1984 in Dallas, Texas. Back then GameStopâ„¢ was simply known as Babbage’s. After only ten years of service, Babbage’s was already showing signs of what it would become, merging with various chains in 1994 like Software Etc. The merged company was named NeoStar Retail; even though the two companies were merged they still operated as two separate businesses…guess they believed in the “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it†methodology.*As it*turns out, methodology didn’t hold true for NeoStar. Corporate confusion and bad communication led to NeoStar filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy only two years after the merge. With over 800 retail outlets available, many buyers of the company began to emerge. On one of the last few days of the manager’s conference, the head buyer of the company emerged, head of Barnes & Noble Leonard Riggio. Mr. Riggio, along with a few other investors made an offer that was accepted by the judge, and with that money, a new management team (mostly comprised of previous Software Etc. executives) was put into place to run Babbage’s. It was on November 12, 2004 that GameStopâ„¢ got its name (Mr. Riggio hated the name, ‘NeoStar Retail). That change came with a spinoff company of Barnes & Noble ~ guess what the name of this company?…GameStopâ„¢!*After a few years of having all these individual companies run as separate entities, it was on February 1st, 2006 that the beginning of the merging of operational activities took place. After a few years of combining business practices, the names of Electronics Boutique and Electronics Etc. were removed from stores and replaced with the company’s flagship name: GameStopâ„¢. So that’s how this store got started ~ Now for the ‘good’ part about this company: Complaints: Trade-ins ~ One of the most prevalent complaints against GameStopâ„¢ is its trade in business. Buying games at a very low price and marking them up to near retail prices has not sit well with fellow gamers and even employees. Pre-orders: ~ Almost all media out there does not require a pre-order of any type to acquire a copy first day. How many of you guys had trouble getting Dark Knight the night of the DVD release? Exactly. It’s hard to believe that any big title does not have the factory backing to keep up supply with the demand. ‘Consoles? ~YES! But ‘Games? ~ NO. Gutting Games: ~ Yes. Gamestopâ„¢ is guilty of ‘opening a New Game to use it’s box as a display, but when quantities become low…they grab the self-display and Sell it for Full Price. Full price, on an ‘opened’ game?? Gamestopâ„¢ is a member of the Better Business Bureau. Many of you are Happy with their service and practices and many are not. But the only way to show that you do not agree with a certain company’s business practices is to no longer give them business. GameStopâ„¢ definitely has some glaring business problems, especially on the employee’s side. But to sit around and complain on a message board, blog, or even to the lowly Game Advisor working the register is not going to change anything. Only by taking away your business and supporting their competitors will you start seeing a change in a Company. ‘Again’, I am purely neutral in this article and am only pointing out a “few” facts. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

SEATTLE – June 28, 2011 – David Jaffe, of Twisted Metal and God of War fame, will kick off three days of demos, speakers, competitions and concerts by some of the biggest names in gaming. The panel discussions at the festival will take attendees through an exploration of the good, the bad and the quirky aspects of gamer culture guided by some of the biggest names in gaming. Fans will also see some of the hottest new games from more than a hundred exhibitors including video game companies like 2K Games, Activision, Bioware, Capcom, NCsoft and Turbine as well as table top/CCG power houses such as Wizards of the Coast and Privateer Press.* Microsoft is hosting Halo Fest – the largest and most expansive live Halo experience anyone has ever seen – at the third floor annex of the Washington State Conference Center. PAX Prime is also bringing back the ever popular nightly concerts.* The full list of acts this year includes some of the hottest acts in the geek culture music scene including: Jonathan Coulton MC Frontalot Metroid Metal Minibosses Paul and Storm Supercommuter (first PAX Prime appearance) The Video Game Orchestra (first PAX Prime appearance) PAX Prime is scheduled at the Seattle Convention Center on August 26 – 28.* Passes are completely sold out. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Ben Gilbert @ Joystiq.com You already read a mess of information about Uncharted 3′s upcoming multiplayer beta back before E3, but now developer Naughty Dog wants to show it off in a slurry of walkthrough videos (which we’ve dropped after the break). The studio also revealed a variety of details about the beta, breaking down which gametypes and maps will be paired across the beta’s three weeks — it’ll take up approximately 1.7GB of your precious HDD space. Additionally, ND says that the beta will allow for stereoscopic 3D, as well as split-screen co-op (though not both simultaneously, of course). As the beta goes live tomorrow for PlayStation Plus subscribers (that’s still most of us!) and inFamous 2 owners, you may be wondering when you’ll be murdering Drake with … uh … other Drakes — unfortunately, the studio isn’t sure just yet, but suggests keeping an eye on the official Naughty Dog Twitter account for up-to-the-minute info. Studio head Evan Wells also notes on his Twitter feed that the beta “should be on PSN around 2PM PDT tomorrow.” He additionally points out that “Naughty Dog doesn’t control this,” making 2PM PDT somewhat tentative. Check out all the videos here. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Sam Winstrom @ Kotaku.com Activision puts nostalgia-loving gamers in their sights once again, gathering a nice list of domain names revolving around something called “Goldeneye Reloaded”. This could mean a number of things are in the works: an HD re-release of Goldeneye for the Wii, an HD remake of the classic N64 Goldeneye, or maybe even a turn as an Xbox Live Arcade game or on PSN? Domain registrations are relatively inexpensive ass-covering for a company as large as Activision and have to be taken in stride, but “Reloaded” is pretty specific. [via @Supererogatory] Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Stephen Totilo @ Kotaku.com The Supreme Court sided with the video game industry today, declaring a victor in the six-year legal match between the industry and the California lawmakers who wanted to make it a crime for anyone in the state to sell extremely violent games to kids. In a 7-2 ruling Justice Antonin Scalia said the law does not comport with the First Amendment. He was joined by Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts, who had seemed sympathetic to California’s concerns last year. Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer, traditionally members of the court’s right and left wings, respectively, joined in dissent. [Read the full decision - PDF link.] This story will be updated throughout the day . The case was The State of California vs. The Entertainment Merchants Association and the Entertainment Software Association. That last party, the ESA, is the gaming industry. The trade group puts on the annual E3 video game showcase, the gaming business’ biggest news event each year. The ESA’s lawyers argued against the state of California’s on Election Day last year, trying to convince the court that video games deserve the same breadth of First Amendment protections as books and movies. The decision, revealed today, was the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on video games in any fashion. The law in question would have made it a crime to sell ultra-violent video games to minors in the State of California. It had been ruled un-Constitutional by lower courts. “The basic principles of freedom of speech . . . do not vary’ with a new and different communication medium,” Scalia wrote in the Court’s opinion, citing an earlier speech case. Writing for a plurality of justices, Scalia said California’s arguments “would fare better if there were a longstanding tradition in this country of specially restricting children’s access to depictions of violence, but there is none.” He cited numerous examples of violence in literature. “Reading Dante is unquestionably more cultured and intellectually edifying than playing Mortal Kombat. But these cultural and intellectual differences are not constitutional.” Scalia also shot down California’s arguments that video games were different enough from books to require a First Amendment exception. “As Judge Posner has observed, all literature is interactive. ‘[T]he better it is, the more interactive.’” He called California’s scientific evidence that violent video games can hurt kids “not compelling.” He denied a state need for a law, given that, he argued parents may not all agree that their kids need protection from violent video games. He cited studies of the current video game ratings systems and said they have been shown effective enough to work. “Filling the remaining modest gap in concerned-parents’ control can hardly be a compelling state interest.” Justices Roberts and Alito decide with the majority but presented a very different argument. Alito denied the Court’s opinion, as written by Scalia, that found no notable distinction between video games and other forms of entertainment. He expressed alarm about the potential potency of future video games: “If the technological characteristics of the sophisticated games that are likely to be available in the near future are combined with the characteristics of the most violent games already marketed, the result will be games that allow troubled teens to experience in an extraordinarily personal and vivid way what it would be like to carry out unspeakable acts of violence.” Leery as he was about video game content, Alito, with Roberts, said the California law was simply too vague in its descriptions of the type of violence which would make a game sold to minors illegal. Standards against sexual content were more specific and grounded in cultural traditions to prohibit children’s access to such content. The Courts’ two dissenters sided with California for two distinct reasons. Justice Clarence Thomas focused on his researched understanding that the frames of the United States Constitution did not believe children enjoyed the same access to Free Speech as adults. “The history clearly shows a founding generation that believed parents to have complete authority over their minor children and expected parents to direct the development of those children.” As a result, he said, the California law restricting the sale of gams to minors was within Constitutional bounds. Justice Breyer focused on the possible double standard between sex and violence. While the Court has upheld States’ ability to restrict the sale of certain types of sexual content to children, it is saying with its decision that it is okay to give children access to violent games—violent games, he noted, that even the game industry rates in a way to restrict from kids. “What sense does it make to forbid selling to a 13-year-old boy a magazine with an image of a nude woman, while protecting a sale to that 13* year-old of an interactive video game in which he actively, but virtually, binds and gags the woman, then tortures and kills her? What kind of First Amendment would permit the government to protect children by restrict-ing sales of that extremely violent video game only when the woman-bound, gagged, tortured, and killed-is also topless?” The video game industry rejoiced at the decision. “This is a historic and complete win for the First Amendment and the creative freedom of artists and storytellers everywhere,” said Michael Gallagher, head of the Entertainment Software Association. “Today, the Supreme Court affirmed what we have always known – that free speech protections apply every bit as much to video games as they do to other forms of creative expression like books, movies and music.” The California bill’s author, Leland Yee, told reporters today he was very disappointed. The Supreme Court has “decided that it is going to side with corporate America and Wal-Mart against our children,” he said. The debate about video games’ effect on kids has raged since the ’80s and intensified in the ’90s with the creation of Doom and a spate of school shootings. After the turn of the century, states across America, including Illinois and Michigan, attempted to criminalize the sale of violent video games to minors. But each of these laws, usually promoted by Democrats, was found by the lower courts to violate the First Amendment, running afoul of the country’s Constitutional protection for free speech. California’s attempt to criminalize violent games got further than others. The law was written by California assemblyman and child psychologist Leland Yee and signed into law by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. [Read California's law.] Yee’s law borrowed the language of the Miller Test, a set of criteria established by the Supreme Court in 1973 for determining if forms of speech are obscene and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. Short of establishing a class of obscene video games that would be illegal for any American, Yee’s law would build on the Supreme Court precedent for allowing states to make the sale of certain kinds of pornographic content—adult magazines, for example—illegal when sold to children, while remaining legal if sold to adults. Games violating Yee’s law would be any that: (A) Comes within all of the following descriptions: (i) A reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors. (ii) It is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the community as to what is suitable for minors. (iii) It causes the game, as a whole, to lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. ( Enables the player to virtually inflict serious injury upon images of human beings or characters with substantially human characteristics in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel, or depraved in that it involves torture or serious physical abuse to the victim. Despite the support of the legislature and then-governor Schwarzenegger, the California law was nevertheless ruled unconstitutional by courts in California. Last year, however, the Supreme Court agreed to hear California’s appeal, the state’s final attempt to get their law through. [Read our cheat sheet about the back-and-forth between California and the gaming industry.] The stakes for the video game medium were high when oral arguments began on the case in the fall of 2010. A court decision in favor of California would separate video games from books, music, movies and all other forms of entertainment for which there is no criminal penalty tied to the selling of extreme non-obscene content to kids. (It is legal, for example, to sell a ticket to an R-rated movie to a child; it simply violates the movie industry’s internal rules). Yee and California’s legal team had argued that the interactive nature of video games necessitated that the medium be treated differently and with a greater awareness of a potential to harm kids. “This is not about Leland Yee trying to prevent any of you game [developers] from developing any more atrocious kinds of games,” Yee told Kotaku last year. “This is a free society. If you have the imagination to do something even more horrible with the technology, then God bless you. That’s part of our freedom of expression here in America, but you just have to figure out when it’s appropriate and when it’s not appropriate. For me, as a child psychologist you ought not be doing it for kids.” On the other hand, Michael Gallagher, speaking on behalf of the gaming industry, said last year, “We’ve successfully argued this case in 12 other courts that these types of laws are unconstitutional and that video games should be treated just like movies, music and other forms of entertainment.” The nine Supreme Court justices did not tip their hands during oral arguments. They fired skeptical questions at both sides, though they failed to fall into the conventional left-right splits. Conservative justice Antonin Scalia grilled California’s lawyer about a slippery slope that would lead to the criminalizing of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, while left-leaning Elana Kagan wondered if a game her clerks played, Mortal Kombat, would run afoul of the law. Conservative chief justice John Roberts rattled off a description of the game Postal and said there’s an American tradition to protect children from content like that, while left-leaning Stephen Breyer wondered why it wasn’t “common sense” for the state to require that parents be the ones buying those games, should a kid wind up with one. [Read key excerpts of those and other colorful exchanges from the oral arguments.] Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by David Hinkle @ Joystiq.com Splash Damage has announced on its blog that Brink‘s “Agents of Change” DLC pack, which includes two maps, five new player abilities, two outfits and two weapon attachments, is expected to arrive in early July. In addition to the launch window, Splash Damage also revealed the DLC will be free for its first two weeks of availability — be sure to check out our previous post highlighting what’s on offer. Following the DLC is a new title update, which Splash Damage says will be “highlighted by online optimizations, AI enhancements, and weapon balance tweaks” based on player feedback. No other details were provided, though we did nab some screenshots of Agents of Change in action. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...

Story by Ben Gilbert @ Joystiq.com Bodycount may have missed its intended “early 2011″ release window, but it seems that Codemasters wasn’t far off. Today the publisher announced an August launch for the title and gave us a new peek into the game’s ‘splosion-packed action. As you’ll see in the clip after the break, Bodycount is clearly about employing a variety of weapons as often as possible, all the while chasing an elusive enemy known as “The Target.” (Seriously.) Apparently you’ll be extending the pile of bodies across Africa, Asia and “mysterious bases” (okay, stop it) in said search, but the folks at Codies won’t speak up until an upcoming community Q&A. You can participate in that over at the US PlayStation Blog. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) More...