Category: Activision (Page 3 of 8)

Modern Warfare 2 makes a billion bucks

January 15, 2010 / Jeff Morgan

You know what’s not a bad way to start a new year? How bout announcing that your latest title has sold more than a billion dollars worth. Yes, Modern Warfare 2 has reached that rare milestone among industry developments, and it’s still going strong.

“There are only a handful of entertainment properties that have ever reached the $1 billion mark,” said Activision CEO Bob Kotick, “which illustrates the power of the Call of Duty franchise and mass appeal of this game.” In case you’ve forgotten the baffling sales statistics, more than half of that billion was made in the first five days the game was available. Utterly insane.

In other new, Avatar (the movie, not the game) broke the billion dollar mark not too long ago, putting the two in a race to beat out Titanic’s $1.8 billion gross and Guitar Hero III‘s $2 billion.

Activision, News

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Blizzard will return to consoles “at some point”

December 22, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

When Diablo III was first announced, there was wide speculation that it could be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The series screams console development with its simple control scheme and dungeon-mashing playstyle. Blizzard isn’t quite ready to confirm that rumor, but the developer did say it’s thinking about console development in a serious way.

Speaking to Gamasutra, World of Warcraft production director J. Allen Brack said Blizzard will make a return to console gaming. The only thing holding it back is that the company wants to make “the right game for the right platform.”

“We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that,” said Brack. I still have hopes for a Diablo III port, but I can’t say I’m ready to believe the rumors.

Source: Gamasutra

Activision, Development

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Rhythm games begin their inevitable decline

December 21, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

The world’s love affair with plastic instruments was bound to end some time and it looks as though that time is now. According to the latest NPD data, rhythm games are struggling, showing weak sales despite new genre releases like DJ Hero and The Beatles: Rock Band.

As always, things are relative. The games may not be doing as well as they were, but Michael Pachter still thinks the niche will level out somewhere around $500 million in sales a year. That’s a pretty little penny, even for a company like Activision. Developers need to pick their ventures wisely, though. DJ Hero tanked. Hard. In a shrinking market that’s the last thing you want, especially after paying for the likes of Jay-Z and Eminem. Even The Beatles: Rock Band undersold expectations by 200,000 units.

Source: Reuters

Activision, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

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Blizzard still updating Diablo II

December 10, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

While you’re waiting for Diablo III, Blizzard’s been hard at work updating the game’s predecessor. There’s a new patch coming for Diablo II, and it’s available for beta testing right now.

Why patch a nine year-old dungeon masher, you ask? Well, apparently people needed the ability to respec their characters. It’s a nice addition, even if you only get to do it once. Really, spending the 20 minutes it takes to get rushed to Hell is just so much work.

There are also some bug fixes and spell tweaks associated with the patch, pretty run of the mill stuff. Anyone out there still playing this game? I picked it up for about a day a few weeks back and remembered quickly why I quit.

Source: Battle.net

Activision, Development, PC

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Get a baby core hound when you buy a Blizzard Authenticator

December 10, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Blizzard, and by extension Activision, will do just about anything to get your money, including tempting you with little animated puppy versions of a familiar best friend, the core hound. Blizzard is offering up an in-game pet for those players willing to pay the extra $6.50 or so to get the Blizzard Authenticator for World of Warcraft accounts.

If you don’t know, the Blizzard Authenticator is an added layer of security for your WoW account. You can get it at the Blizzard Store, but the company also gives them away during Blizzcon. Personally, I never needed one. Maybe I was lucky, maybe I just paid enough attention to my computer that it wasn’t an issue, but over two years of playing, I never had an issue with hackers. Just the same, $6.50 for a cute little core hound isn’t so bad, particularly if it adds extra security to the account into which you’ve invested far too much time.

Accessories, Activision, MMO

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