The Tanooki » Activision

Activision’s Bobby Kotick discusses the Wii U

Holly Green — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:43:51 +0000

The Wii U surely has to be one of the most talked about topics to come out of E3, producing sound bites out of a wide range of industry icons on the future of Nintendo tech. Not one to be left out is Bobby Kotick, who had a few thoughts of his own during a recent interview with The Guardian, noting the grave necessity of the Wii U’s improved hardware, and complimenting the user interface, saying:

“With the Wii U … from a development perspective, having a Nintendo device that is on parity with the other hardware from a graphics perspective was really necessary. For the kinds of games we create, it was becoming very difficult for us to support the Wii with the expectations that our gamers have.”

He also says that they’ll need to know the Wii U’s full online and multiplayer capabilities before bringing core games onto the system, but that they have had dev kits for some time and are “very enthusiastic” about it. He continues:

“I think that the user-interface itself is very clever – there will be a lot of innovation to come from having the second screen. It’s also critically important that you can use the existing physical interfaces with the new device because those are really compelling. Nintendo has always done a very good job of thinking about the user experience and this is no exception.”

It’s nice to hear such a direct compliment from Kotick, but his response hardly guarantees an Activision title on Wii U. However, given Nintendo’s many comments on the improved social experience we can expect with this next console, it seems there may be hope. Though that could be my desire to see more Call of Duty-Nintendo cross over talking. Someone has to make proper use of that second-screen-as-a-scope bit we saw in the Wii U trailers. Seriously.

The Guardian
via Joystiq

Activision reveals 20 million Black Ops players log 600 million hours

Christian Ponte — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:00:08 +0000

Call of Duty: Black Ops launched on November 9th. In the 46 days through December 24th, over 20 million players have collectively logged over 600 million hours of play time, according to Activision. That’s more than 68,000 man-years, and averages out to about 87 minutes per player per day. The company points out that figure it more than the average amount of time a person spends on Facebook. In fact, company heads have pointed out that Black Ops has essentially become a social network on its own, connecting millions of gamers as they play together with their friends and others.

Call of Duty: Black Ops sold over 8.4 million units last month in North America alone, and reached $1 billion in sales as late as last week, making it one of the most successful product launches in history. The “First Strike” DLC Pack will be available in February.

Gamasutra

Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC First Strike arrives Feb. 1

Holly Green — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:34:51 +0000

The first map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops is on it’s way next year, revealed Major Nelson in this past Sunday’s podcast. Entitled First Strike, it adds another healthy dose of undead to series, with new Zombie map Ascension included with four others, Berlin Wall, Discovery, Stadium and Kowloon .

The downloadable content arrives February 1, 2011. Stay tuned for the inevitable screen shots.

CALL OF DUTY^®: BLACK OPS “FIRST STRIKE” GAME ADD-ON COMING FIRST TO XBOX LIVE ON 1ST FEBRUARY

Details Revealed of Record-Setting Title’s First Game Add-On Release

London, UK – 21^st December, 2010 – Prepare for Call of Duty ^®’s new online assault. The Call of Duty^®: Black Ops First Strike game add-on will first launch worldwide on Xbox LIVE^® on 1^st February. Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike represents the first downloadable content expansion for the blockbuster title from Treyarch and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI).

“ We’re committed to supporting Call of Duty: Black Ops fans with continuous updates to the game and exciting new content that will keep our community engaged,” said Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia. “We can’t wait to deliver Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike to our fans, which has four all-new Black Ops multiplayer maps, and an exciting new Zombie map to be declassified later. “

Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike features four new multiplayer maps, including Berlin Wall, Discovery, Stadium and Kowloon, and a new Zombie map called Ascension.

For Silver Xbox LIVE members who haven’t yet experienced Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer, Xbox LIVE will host a Multiplayer Unlock event running on 28-30^th January for new fans to join in.

Created by Treyarch and published by Activision, Call of Duty: Black Ops made entertainment history this November when it shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records for five-day opening worldwide sell through in dollars, selling more than $650 million.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is PEGI rated 18. For additional Call of Duty updates, visit www.callofduty.com/blackops and also via Twitter @JD_2020.

Call of Duty: Black Ops sells nearly 5 million on Xbox alone

Holly Green — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 05:50:45 +0000

An NPD Group data breakdown provided to Gamasutra has revealed some staggering sales figures for Call of Duty: Black Ops on the 360. According to the report, the Xbox iteration of the title has sold over 4.9 million. Following up these epic figures, the PlayStation 3 version moved 3.1 million units, with the remaining versions of the game (Nintendo DS, Wii, and Windows PC) accounting for the other 400,000. This gave Black Ops the records for both the best opening month and made it the 7th-best selling piece of game software in the history of the American games market, with a total of 8.4 million sold in the month of November and $650 million earned in the first five days of release.

Which Black Ops sales figures did you contribute to?

GamaSutra

U.S. government pulls plug on websites hosting copyrighted works

Jason Leavey — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 16:01:38 +0000

Watch out, pirates. The United States government is now seizing websites that host copyrighted works, according to CNET. Earlier this month, a Senate committee unanimously approved a decision to institute the COICA act (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act), giving the government full power to take down sites hosting movies, music, video game software, or any form of copyright protected media.

Several major media companies, including NBC Universal, Viacom and Activision have backed the act in a desperate attempt to stop the mass spread of illegally downloaded media. Previously, Nintendo publicly stated that the growth of pirated software has hurt the sale of Nintendo DS titles, something they look to combat with their Nintendo 3DS handheld through automatic system updates.

Just this month, the U.S. government has taken down over 70 websites, some of which include popular domains Dvdcollect.com and Torrent-finder.com. Once removed, the government kindly leaves the above message as a thank you to all future site visitors.

Surely where there’s a will, there’s a way, but the government is taking a tremendous step forward in the fight against freely downloading protect content on the Internet. Don’t be surprised if you see the above message, coming to an illegal site near you.

CNET

Activision suffering from invalid GoldenEye 007 mode unlock codes

Jason Leavey — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:05:29 +0000

When GoldenEye 007 released just ten days ago, purchasers of the gold Classic Controller Pro bundle were delighted by the free code included to unlock the “Classic Conflict” mode. You know, except for the fact that it doesn’t work.

Many players, such as myself, get an “invalid code” prompt once the code is entered in the promotional code section of the game’s online menu screen. Upon calling Activision’s customer service line, I was told that they are aware of the quite common issue, and are looking into it. Currently their only solution involves me registering and logging into their online support site, scanning my code and my store receipt, and waiting for a response, which is a bit insulting if you ask me.

Other folks around the net have complained that codes given as preorder bonuses from GameStop and Best Buy were switched, unlocking the other retailer’s exclusive content.

My solution? Make up for your blunder and give us all access to the content.

Call of Duty: Black Ops breaks first-day sales records

Jason Leavey — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:14:26 +0000

Activision has reason to smile today, as the publisher’s “internal estimates” praise Call of Duty: Blacks Ops as having the most successful first day game launch of any video game title. Figures state that the game has brought in $360 million between the U.S.A. and the U.K. on day one alone. The game launched on November 9 for all next-gen consoles.

Figures indicate the Treyarch developed game sold 5.6 million copies at launch, which significantly trumps last year’s record holding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with 4.7 million units. The game is naturally on par to break last year’s $550 million 5-day record.

Despite what it’s done for the music rhythm genre, it appears releasing annual war shooters is good for business.

Call of Duty®: Black Ops Sets New Opening Day Sales Record With Approximately $360 Million in North America and United Kingdom Alone

Most Anticipated Game of the Year Becomes Biggest Entertainment Launch in History

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Shattering its own day-one sales record, Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced that Treyarch’s highly-anticipated Call of Duty®: Black Ops has become the biggest entertainment launch ever with an estimated sell-through of approximately $360 million in North America and the United Kingdom alone in the first 24 hours of its release, as compared to last year’s estimated day-one sell-through of $310 million for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® 2 in North America and the United Kingdom, according to internal Activision estimates.

Call of Duty: Black Ops, marks the second year in a row that the Call of Duty franchise has set day one launch records across all forms of entertainment. In its first day on November 9, the blockbuster title sold through approximately 5.6 million copies in North America and the United Kingdom, as compared to 4.7 million copies for last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, according to internal Activision estimates.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is one of the most critically acclaimed games of the year worldwide and was released with unprecedented retailer support and more than 12,000 midnight openings around the globe.

“There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year’s five-day global sales record of $550 million,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. ”The game’s success underscores the pop culture appeal of the brand. Call of Duty: Black Ops is the finest game that Treyarch has ever made and raises the bar for online gameplay by delivering the deepest and most intense Call of Duty experience yet. The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay, and we are committed to supporting them with new content and features on a more frequent and regular basis.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Language.

Maryland robbers steal over 100 copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Jason Leavey — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:36:58 +0000

We know of one GameStop location that broke the street date for Call of Duty: Black Ops, unfortunately at gunpoint.

Late Saturday evening, at least two men with semi-automatic weapons robbed a GameStop store in Harford Country, Maryland, at the Bel Air shopping center. Instead of just targeting the registers and a few gaming consoles, the thieves acquired four cases holding something much more valuable: Call of Duty: Black Ops. The game is set to release this Tuesday, November 9.

So far the suspects are still at large, but authorities are keeping an eye on any early copies which may be sold prior to the game’s street date. Anyone with any information is asked to call the local authorities.

SunSpot

Activision’s GoldenEye 007 (rocket) launches with new trailer

Jason Leavey — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:35:21 +0000

It was just this past June when Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime took to the E3 stage to break the news of a brand new GoldenEye game, coming exclusively for the Wii console. Tomorrow, November 2, GoldenEye 007 releases.

Activision has a brand new HD trailer to showoff the game to any doubters or naysayers. There’s a lot of new (online multiplayer, new weapons, new locales), mixed with a lot of old (familiar characters, familiar weapons, familiar story) which should work to please fans of retro N64 shooters, hardcore next-gen FPS titles, and of course the Bond franchise.

I look forward to seeing you guys and girls online, as your heads explode in succession thanks to a few well-placed proximity mines.

Video: More classic characters for Goldeneye 007 Wii

Holly Green — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:32:28 +0000

One video just wasn’t enough for the classic Bond characters featured in Goldeneye 007 for the Wii, so Activision has gone and brought us another. Check out this footage of Dr. No. Rosa Klebb, Red Grant, and Blofeld as they battle it vs. style, once again showing off the masterful 4 person split screen.

Goldeneye 007 for the Wii comes out November 2, 2010.

New Goldeneye 007 Wii vignette details villains, weapons, and new choices

Holly Green — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:48:33 +0000

FYI: I was not kidding about the barrage of Goldeneye 007 Wii videos leading up to next month’s release. But on the upside, I’m getting mighty fond of the word “vignette”. This new vignette features the villains and weapons of the Goldeneye 007 sort-of remake, due November 2, 2010. It also draws attention to the choice aspects of the game, mentioning that there are many times in the game where you may find yourself having more fun going covert than guns-a-blazin’, leaving the choice in method completely up to the player. Check out the action above.

Tempers flare in new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II trailer

Jason Leavey — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:57:10 +0000

Any Star Wars fans in here?

From Lucas Arts comes the next chapter in the galactic video game series, as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II releases later this month.

Join Starkiller, Darth Vader’s rebellious apprentice, on his journey to stop Vader’s cloning ambitions, while taking on his league of darkness using the Force, and a pair of wickedly awesome lightsabers. The stakes get higher as epic battles rage on.

The game is set for an October 26th release on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii and DS.

And since you have a couple of weeks left, might as well take advantage of the preorder bonuses offered, right? If you preorder the game from GameStop, it will net you the Maulkiller pack, which includes the character Maulkiller and well as a silver saber crystal mod. Preorders from Amazon will give players two exclusive challenge modes: the Trial of Dagobah and Defend “The Core” Trial. Find out more about these preorder bonuses (exclusive to the PS3/ Xbox 360 versions) below the break.

GAMESTOP

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II – Exclusive Maulkiller Pack includes:

Exclusive Character: Maulkiller – In the cloning facilities of Kamino, Darth Vader created a warrior of unparalleled strength and power by combining the genetic material of Darth Maul, former apprentice of Sith Lord Darth Sidious, with his own apprentice, Starkiller. The resulting aberrant clone possessed traits from both warriors, but the crude fusion of two disparate Force users quickly produced physical and mental instabilities that led to the unfortunate clone’s destruction. For a brief time he struck fear into the hearts of all who faced him, even Lord Vader himself.
Exclusive Maulkiller Silver Saber Crystal – The perfect complement to Maulkiller’s appearance, the silver crystal make his dual Lightsabers look like an extension of the silver ritual combat tattoos that cover his body and face. This powerful crystal allows Maulkiller to increase the damage he inflicts on his enemies.

AMAZON

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II – Two Exclusive Challenge Levels:

Exclusive Challenge: The Trial of Dagobah – Explore the mystical swamps of Dagobah in this exclusive challenge. The setting for this challenge is an abstract version of the Dagobah level in the game. Yoda is testing your skills with this dreamlike space. Use Force Grip to lift objects out of the swampy depths of the surface of Dagobah and use them to navigate to your goal. The faster you can do this the more your rewards will be but beware danger lurks just below!
Exclusive Challenge: Defend “The Core” Trial – Set high in the clouds within the hanging cities of Cato Neimoidia, defend “The Core” by using all your Force Powers and expertise with the Lightsaber for as long as you can as waves of enemies try to destroy it.

Preorders

Video: The customization features of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Holly Green — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:33:15 +0000

If your biggest concern when Call of Duty: Black Ops debuts is whether your character will have the right outfit, well, worry no more. Looks like Activision has got you covered. The customization options for Black Ops look fairly extensive, allowing you to primp and personalize your way to high FPS fashion. The video also takes the time to talk a little about the currency system and purchasing each customizable item, from icons to weapons and beyond, all created to provide a unique profile for each playing individual. Check it all out in the video above.

Take a tour of Goldeneye 007 Wii with the new Maps trailer

Holly Green — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:34:54 +0000

With Goldeneye 007 Wii‘s round-the-corner release date, Activision is releasing various trailers left and right, giving us a clear idea of what new and returning features will be present when the reimagining of the FPS N64 classic debuts next month. In this new “vignette” (which so far as I can tell is just a fancy word for “video montage”), you can check out some of the areas you can expect to kick some serious tail in, all set to that swingin’ secret spy theme we all know so well.

Goldeneye 007 for Wii comes out November 2, 2010.

Call of Duty: Black Ops playable in 3D

Jason Leavey — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:07:19 +0000

Well look what we have here. A month out from the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Treyarch decided to release some pretty big news regarding the next chapter in the beloved franchise. It appears Black Ops will be fully playable in 3D, given you have a 3D capable TV or PC of course (and those nifty glasses).

“Development of stereoscopic 3D began as an R&D project, but once we saw what the technology brought to the Call of Duty experience,… we knew that we had to develop it for Black Ops,” said Mark Lamia, head of Treyarch. “Aiming down the sights of your weapons, flying in helicopters, rappelling down mountains, and moving through highly detailed environments are just some of the awesome experiences you will have in 3D with Black Ops.

While I find it near-impossible for any game to compete with the 3D Killzone 3 demo we were shown at E3, I’d definitely love to check out a zombie-filled Call of Duty game in 3D. The 3D capability is available on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game.

CallofDuty3D

The Tanooki » Activision

Activision’s Bobby Kotick discusses the Wii U

Related Posts

Activision reveals 20 million Black Ops players log 600 million hours

Related Posts

Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC First Strike arrives Feb. 1

Related Posts

Call of Duty: Black Ops sells nearly 5 million on Xbox alone

Related Posts

U.S. government pulls plug on websites hosting copyrighted works

Related Posts

Activision suffering from invalid GoldenEye 007 mode unlock codes

Related Posts

Call of Duty: Black Ops breaks first-day sales records

Call of Duty®: Black Ops Sets New Opening Day Sales Record With Approximately $360 Million in North America and United Kingdom Alone

Most Anticipated Game of the Year Becomes Biggest Entertainment Launch in History

Related Posts

Maryland robbers steal over 100 copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Related Posts

Activision’s GoldenEye 007 (rocket) launches with new trailer

Related Posts

Video: More classic characters for Goldeneye 007 Wii

Related Posts

New Goldeneye 007 Wii vignette details villains, weapons, and new choices

Related Posts

Tempers flare in new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II trailer

Related Posts

Video: The customization features of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Related Posts

Take a tour of Goldeneye 007 Wii with the new Maps trailer

Related Posts

Call of Duty: Black Ops playable in 3D

Related Posts