Posts Tagged ‘Video Games’

Microsoft has announced editions of Halo: Reach to be unleashed this September.  Yes, the Dude will pre-order the collectors edition which will be displayed prominently in the office.

Here are the editions available for preorder:

Halo: Reach Standard Edition

Includes the game disc, manual, and many of hours of fun.  (Duh!)

Halo: Reach Limited Edition

Halo: Reach – Limited Edition
In addition to the game disc and manual, the Limited edition includes:
• Game disc housed in recovered ONI ”black box”
• An exclusive Elite armour set for use in multiplayer modes
• Artifact bag containing Dr. Halsey’s personal journal and other classified documents and effects that unravel long held secrets from the “Halo” universe

Halo: Reach Legendary Edition

Halo: Reach – Legendary Edition
The complete “Halo: Reach” collection. In addition to the game disc, manual, and the complete contents of the Limited edition, the Legendary edition includes:
• Noble Team statue expertly crafted by the artisans at McFarlane Toys. Individually molded, hand-painted and individually numbered, this statue is a must-have for any serious “Halo” fan
• UNSC-themed custom packaging
• An exclusive multiplayer Spartan armour effect

Prices are $59.99 Standard, $79.99 Limited, and $149.99 Legendary.  The statue weighs a whopping 10 lbs.  Bungie suggests preodering the Limited and Legendary Editions soon because of the exclusive armor and armor effects that are included.

The Dude has been playing some Gears of War 2 lately.  I didn’t go out and get it on release day although I’m a fan of the series.  I’m just finishing up the second Gears game and enjoying it.  Well…Maybe not really enjoying some of the boss battles that I frequently get stuck on.  Come on guys!  I’m more of a casual Gears fan than most.

Gears of War 3 was announced on Xbox Live the other day probably by mistake.  Cliff Bleszinski the series creator was supposed to be on the Jimmy Fallen show the other night to announce a new game.  Most likely his Gears of War 3 game.  The television spot was yanked at the last moment for unknown reasons.  Maybe they had time constraints?  Then, someone at Microsoft pulled the switch and let it slip on Xbox Live that Gears 3 will debut next year April 2011.

The final chapter in the Gears of War series of games will feature mech suits, underwater combat, new weapons, and a new cover system.  Gears 3 will use the new Unreal 3 engine which Cliff showed off at this years Game Developers Conference, GDC 2010.  The new engine does great work  rendering liquid metal and jungle foliage environments.

Loved the first game, and immensely enjoying the second as we speak.  Not worried if the third will be any good.  Of course it will be.

This guy is freakin’ awesome!!! Keith Apicary – Video Game Comedian

One of the greatest first person shooters of all time may be headed for a huge speed bump this week as Infinity Ward president, game director Jason West and CEO Vince Zapella were let go for apparent breaches of contract and insubordination.  Activisions human resources is conducting an internal investigation on the matter.  Activision does not expect that the game or the company will be impacted from the departures and litigation. 

The firings coincide with Activisions Security and Exchange Commission annual report which included a notice that the pair would be fired.

The included filing read:

The Company [Activision] is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation. At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company

A report at G4 claims an unnamed source said that for several weeks there have been “tense” moments between Infinity Ward and parent company Activision which ultimately came to a boiling point at a morning board room meeting with studio and publisher heads.  The report claims that the Infinity Ward president and CEO apparently “vanished” shortly after the meeting and a group of “bouncer types” were left hanging around the offices which left the rest of the developers “freaked out”.  Some companies hire personal security to escort fired employees off the property if they think there will be trouble.  Obviously Activision was worried there could have been altercations after the firings.

Holy smokes!  There are huge doubts about the future of Infinity Ward and the Call of Duty Modern Warfare games in my opinion.  Will the talent who developed Modern Warfare 2 hang out and make Activisions proposed future ”unique new IP”, or if there will be a brain drain from the company as loyal developers and friends of West and Zampella leave town?  What about the new MW2 downloadable content pack due out in the spring?

Later in the week things got nastier.  There are reports that West and Zampella have filed lawsuits against Activision for wrongful termination. 

Here is a quote directly from their attorney Robert Schwartz:

Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual ‘investigation’ into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of ‘insubordination’ and ‘breach of fiduciary duty,’ which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st.

We’ll see what will happen in the coming weeks as more information comes to light about exactly what’s going on.  Activision has not commented on the matter and is moving ahead with the Call of Duty franchise and its new internal business unit devoted to developing the Call of Duty brand.  Three more Call of Duty games are planned and apparently Infinity Ward is not mentioned as being one of the developers involved according to current reports.  Stay tuned for this one!