With Chinese New Year just around the corner, 2010 will be the year of...Blizzard? Announced today by Blizzard President and Co-Founder, Mike Morhaime, the closed beta of StarCraft II will launch towards of the end of February. That is awesome for those, myself included, that have been waiting for StarCraft II to come out. The news of StarCraft II was not the only announcement made by Blizzard. To be released later this year, Blizzard's highly acclaimed MMO, World of Warcraft, will be releasing their latest expansion with Cataclysm. Read More...

Are you tired of reading all the reviews for Modern Warfare 2? Or listening to every gaming podcast giving the game high marks? Well how about we throw some numbers at you and see if you think Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is worthy of this year's Game of the Year. Activision Blizzard, Inc (Nasdaq: ATVI) has announced today that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 brought in approximately $550 million dollars in the first five-day worldwide. This makes it the largest entertainment launch in history. How about we look at more numbers for the first five-day entertainment records, including box office, book and other video game sales. Read More...

As I looked at the massive amount of people at my local GameStop that were in line to pickup MW2, it dawned on me, this is the biggest, most anticipated, and what could be the best selling action game of all time. Over 300 people were standing in the cold for some four hours waiting for the same thing. Many of them planned on calling in sick the next day or skipping out on school just to get some playtime in. Many people were reminiscing about COD4 or saying how they played a bunch of COD4 to get psyched up about MW2. Read More...

The bad gets worse. PC gamers have often been on the short end of the stick on gaming for awhile now except for one thing: Multiplayer. Mods, dedicated servers, better clan support, and VOIP programs like Ventrilo and Teamspeak usually make the PC multiplayer experience better than their console counterparts. Modern Warfare 2, which is poised to be the best selling FPS of all time, is only full of disappointments to the PC crowd unfortunately.Dedicated servers have already been taken away from the PC version and now comes more. Read More...

Reinventing the Vinyl WheelYour palms sweat heavily as you approach the stage. There's a twitch, a solitary twinge of excitement racing through your veins and ready to explode from the tips of your fingers onto the vinyl that awaits you. The lights flicker and flash and the crowd roars as you make your entrance. You deftly weave between songs and paradoxical rhythmic patterns, cross-fading between sultry sirens and heard edged break beats. You match the intensity of the crowd with every pull of the record, every scratch rivaled by their increased volume. Read More...

Infinity Ward recently announced that their upcoming Modern Warfare 2 won't be supporting dedicated servers, something that PC gamers have 99% of the time, replacing it with something called IWNet, a proprietary server system ran by Infinity Ward themselves. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's make a list of pro's and con's. Pros: Less Cheaters Less Lag Better Matchmaking No Clan Servers No Custom Configs Cons: No Mod Support Chance that IW could disconnect and end servers at anytime for any reason No Clan Servers No Custom Configs Unable to play on “favorite” servers, only way to play with same group of people is to be in the same party or clan While console gamers have never had their own dedicated servers (save a few games like Section 8, Evolution 4x4, and a few others), it's rare for a PC game to do away with it (and yes, COD4 had dedicated servers). Why this move was made is beyond anybody's idea however it seems that Infinity Ward would like to either Nazi their PC players Pave the way for a pay-for service Get rid of Modders Genuinely want to get rid of hackers Announce that they are taking it away, to drive some gamers away, then announce that they will include it, and gain even more gamers to it due to the news (IE: New Coke) Kill the ability for pirated copies of MW2 to be played online. Read More...

Ahhh, the soothing sounds of a hype train pulling into the station. With two weeks remaining until the release of Band Hero, Activision has now finally released the final set list for the game. On top of that, they divulged methods and pricing for importing the tracks from Band Hero to Guitar Hero 5 and vice versa. As far as the song listing goes, you will utter "Sweet Song!" as many times as you say "Huh? Read More...

So what is this game then if it isn't the next IP for the Jurassic Park franchise? Pretty much another dinosaur shooter style game with one major twist that others do not have. What would this twist be? Not that you are another space marine traveled through time and space and ends up in a jurassic era, but that you are a "normalish" adventurer and weapons master. That and you have been transported back in time with loads of ammo and weapons to hunt and kill the monstrous and angry dinosaurs of the jurassic era, via the Bermuda Triangle. Yep, that's right. Read More...

Yesterday, Activision released the track listing for the bonus 2-CD pack of Jay-Z and Eminem for the DJ Hero Renegade Edition. As a person who is readily suspicious of special editions and collector's edition, I had my doubts about DJ Hero's special pack-in when I saw that the jump in price from the regular edition was 80 US Dollars. With Wednesday's track listing release for the big addition to the original product and what exactly it will be, it really begs the question if what you're getting is worth the price of admission. Looking at Gamestop's web listing for DJ Hero Renegade Edition, you get: DJ Hero Renegade Edition Includes the following items: DJ Hero Game Renegade Turntable Controller featuring premium metal controls and finish Hardshell Turntable Carrying Case that converts to performance-ready DJ stand Exclusive JAY-Z and EMINEM 2-CD pack featuring unreleased tracks and collectible case designed by artist Shepard Fairey Looking at the track listing of the 2-CD set and being a fan, albeit not a huge stalker-level fan, I was really impressed at what is being included especially a brand new track. Read More...

While just under a month out, Activision is already thinking about keeping people playing their new action rpg, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe not. My bet is that you have. But that isn't what this article is about here, at least not totally. This is about the fact they are adding in one of the best characters to join the good fight. That character is Carnage. That's right! Read More...

A Call of Duty movie?!? There's a laundry list of great games turned into horrible movies (many of them belonging to Uwe Boll) and it looks like Call of Duty may be added to that list. While it may not be for certain, a trademark filing followed by a mysterious tweet certainly make it look like it could be “in the works” at the minimum. Activision is known for trademarking far more things than necessary, however it would make sense with all the other video game movies that have been announced. The tweet is here: http://twitter. Read More...

There comes a time when you realize there are certain products are just not for your demographic anymore. Maybe it was when you were hitting puberty and realized that while you may still like Saturday morning cartoons, the commercials annoyed you rather than interested. Or perhaps you tried to watch The Tonight Show before Jay Leno was replaced and realized every joke was for the geriatric crowd. Reading today's press release from Activision really demonstrated to me that while I may enjoy rhythm games, Band Hero is not being marketed to me. Band Hero is the long lost love child of Guitar Hero: World Tour and High School Musical. Read More...

The Civil War saga in the Marvel universe has been one of the best stories to grace comic books in quite some time. It's a great story that is an allegorical commentary in the wake of 9/11 and The Patriot Act. In the storyline, a Superhuman, Nitro, goes nuclear in Stamford, Connecticut, killing hundreds during a reality TV show. A TV show that was like COPS but following the New Warriors. Once this happens, the US public demands that Superhumans answer for their actions and the Superhuman Registration Act is put in place forcing heroes to come out and show who they are. Read More...

Are you ready to get WET? Artificial Mind and Movement, the game's developers, sure hope you are. WET has been in the works for a long time, originally set to release under Sierra, but eventually dropped when acquired by Activision. It finally found its home amongst Bethesda Softworks. So will you dip your hands into this title and get them WET? WET, this is a shortened term for wetworks, which involves a messy job that involves hands being wet with blood. This is where our heroine, Rubi Malone (voiced by Eliza Dushku), comes into the picture. Read More...

Yesterday Microsoft and Activision announced that a special Modern Warfare 2-themed Xbox 360. 250 gig hard drive, two wireless controllers, a wired headset and a copy of the game for 400 dollars. Amazon.com has a list of what is in the box: Limited Edition Xbox 360 Console with exclusive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Design Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Standard Edition (Rated "M" for Mature.) 250GB HD 2 Black Wireless Controllers 1 Black Xbox 360 Wired Headset 1 Ethernet Cable 1 Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable Free one month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold (Xbox LIVE Silver subscription is included with console) Free Netflix trial offer The men and women working at Microsoft who got this deal done are getting promotions this Christmas. Having a themed console for what will probably be the best selling game of the year and strong contender for Game of the Year is a huge boon for Microsoft. Read More...