As a result of legal action from an American lawyer, Microsoft is now legally unable to update gamers on the status of Xbox LIVE. On January 4th, Microsoft promised Xbox LIVE subscribers a free Xbox LIVE Arcade game after outages over Christmas led to millions of gamers cut off from the service.
The American lawyer is suing Microsoft for $5m, alleging that Microsoft was in breach of contract when gamers were unable to connect to the Xbox LIVE network.
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January 15, 2008 at 11:42 am | Business & Law, Xbox | No Comments
K-mart employee Nathaniel Gustafon was busted for stealing goods in the amount of $7,218 USD. What started out as a few soda thefts, soon led to much more expensive items. Gustafon’s uncontrollable thievery progressed to DVDs, videogames, a camcorder, and gaming hardware.
Gustafon managed to get away with stealing the goods by stuffing smaller items into large boxed goods that were legitimately purchased in order to elude suspicions. He was soon caught by K-mart security after getting a little too greedy. When attempting to smuggle an Xbox 360 hard drive, two Xbox 360 HD-DVD players, and two PlayStation 3s packed into a microwave box, the exit alarm sounded.
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January 15, 2008 at 11:24 am | Business & Law, Misc | 1 Comment
Gizmodo may be banned from attending CES after a stunt by one of Gizmodo’s staff members at CES 2008. Gizmodo is owned by Gawker Media, which owns several blogging sites covering various news media. Gizmodo concentrates on gadgets and hardware in particular.
Cnet.com has posted a blog entry claiming Gizmodo is now barred from attending CES due to Gizmodo’s prank, which involved shutting off several televisions displays during the event. Cnet.com received this statement from the conference’s organizer, the Consumer Electronics Association.
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January 12, 2008 at 11:23 am | Business & Law, Hardware | No Comments
Take-Two Interactive today announced the acquisition of Illusion Softworks, a Central-European based development studio. Illusion Softworks will join Take-Two’s 2K Games as 2K Czech. Illusion Softworks is behind titles such as Mafia and Mafia II.
“The acquisition of Illusion Softworks reflects our strategic focus on owning high-value intellectual property as we continue to expand our portfolio of triple-A titles,” said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two.
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January 8, 2008 at 10:28 pm | Business & Law | No Comments
At the 2008 International CES, Microsoft announced the addition of several games for the Windows platform coming up in 2008. The new additions will be published by several companies including Atari Inc., Capcom, Eidos Interactive, LucasArts, Microsoft Game Studios, SEGA and Stardock.
“Games for Windows truly thrived in 2007. We went from two titles in 2006 to a continually growing portfolio of over 60 titles here at CES 2008,” said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We delivered on our promise one year ago to reinvigorate the PC gaming space and bring the best portfolio of games to Windows. And this is just the beginning. With our partners, we will continue to drive the resurgence of Windows-based gaming.”
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January 7, 2008 at 11:41 pm | Business & Law | No Comments
A 20 year old male, Joshua R. Stetar, drove 40 hours straight in order to stalk and threaten a 15 year old girl he met on Xbox LIVE playing Halo.
Stetar was able to get most of the young girl’s information from Googling on the web, including her address and phone number.
The 15 year old girl had received several hundred text messages on her cell phone in 2007, forcing the victim’s mother to change her daughter’s number. Stetar also sent the girl flowers and packages that were sent back by the girl’s parents.
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January 1, 2008 at 2:07 pm | Business & Law | No Comments
On Monday December 17th a Judge ruled in favor of Activision over the rights to use The Romantics’ song titled “What I like About You” in Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s.
Judge Edmunds indicated that to the extent there were any copyright issues, Activision did exactly what the company was supposed to do in developing the product.
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December 20, 2007 at 10:43 pm | Business & Law | No Comments
New York, NY - December 17, 2007 - Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) today announced the formation of 2K Marin, a new development studio under its 2K publishing label. Located in Novato, California, 2K Marin will develop original intellectual property, as well as co-develop products with other 2K studios around the world. “We’re focused on continuing to bring new brands and cutting-edge gameplay to market with the creation of the 2K Marin studio,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “2K Marin will build upon our success in creating and leveraging AAA franchises.”
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December 17, 2007 at 9:55 pm | Business & Law | No Comments
Nintendo has projected the DS as the top selling video game system for the year of 2007. More than 6 million Nintendo DS portable video game systems have sold in the United States in 2007 through Nov. 30, according to internal Nintendo of America Inc. sales numbers. That’s a rate of about one sold every five seconds of 2007.
“There’s no letup in sight,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Nintendo DS appeals strongly to both core and casual gamers, and its momentum is set to propel us into 2008.”
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December 12, 2007 at 11:54 am | Business & Law, Hardware | No Comments
Activision has announced an impressive lineup of video games for this holiday season. Guitar Hero III isn’t the only game from Activision, the list also includes:
Titles Based on Top Brands in Interactive Entertainment:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — The new action-thriller from the award-winning team at Infinity Ward, the creators of the Call of Duty(R) series, delivers the most intense and cinematic action experience ever. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare arms gamers with an arsenal of advanced and powerful modern day firepower and transports them to the most treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on a rogue enemy group threatening the world. Read more…
December 6, 2007 at 7:09 pm | Business & Law | No Comments
