A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that a World of Warcraft-playing bot violated the online game's terms of use, upholding a lower court's 2008 decision against the so-called Glider software, and issuing a permanent injunction against its use.
The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled (PDF file) that the MDY's Glider bot--which helps WoW players by automatically playing early levels of the massively popular game--is a breach of a contractual covenant. In a post on their Virtual World Law Blog, lawyers at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman explained that the decision largely follows … Read more
This week, Time named Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is its 2010 person of the year. Likely of more interest to gamers is the list of the magazine's top 10 games of the year, which named Microsoft and Remedy's Xbox 360 spookfest Alan Wake the No. 1 game of 2010.
In second place was a game that was technically released for the iPhone in 2009--Angry Birds from the now-EA-owned publisher Chillingo and Finnish studio Rovio. Third place went to the open-world Western Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar's San Diego studio, followed by the sci-fi shooter Halo: Reach from Microsoft and Bungie.… Read more
The game industry's software rating board has updated its iPhone app and unveiled a new, identical Android app to try to make it easier for parents to decide if a title is right for their kids.
A new feature in the the Entertainment Software Rating Board's Rating Search App, allows people to snap a picture of a video game box to get more information about the title. According to the ESRB, the app identifies the title in the game and then displays a "detailed, straight-forward explanation--including specific examples--of the content that factored into a game's rating.&… Read more
Advanced Micro Devices unveiled last night its new Radeon HD 6900 series GPUs--the 6950 and 6970--for game enthusiasts.
The Radeon HD 6900 series of GPUs, or graphics processing units, features support for Microsoft's DirectX 11 and includes AMD PowerTune, which allows the cards to automatically adjust power consumption based on how they're being used. In addition, AMD said the new series includes "up to 2GB of graphics frame buffer" to appeal to gamers.
Those who are looking to have multiple displays from different vendors should be happy to hear that the AMD Radeon HD 6950 and … Read more
Nintendo might be leading the gaming space in market share, but at least one analyst believes the game company is behind when it comes to technology.
"Nintendo now finds itself in a position of having to play catch up," Wedbush analyst Michael Pacther told Industry Gamers in a recent interview. "Kinect and Move will have an installed base of 8 to 10 million by the end of 2010, and a base of 20 to 25 million by the time Nintendo launches its 'next' generation console."
Pachter told Industry Games that he thinks Nintendo will launch the … Read more
"Avatar" on 3D Blu-ray may not be available in general release for another year, claims a report from T3 magazine.
According to U.K.-based tech publication, Panasonic confirmed that it has exclusive selling rights to "Avatar" on 3D Blu-ray through February 2012. After that, the film will be made available for general release.
Assuming that's true, consumers will have to leap some serious hurdles and cough up some serious cash just to get their hands on James Cameron's blockbuster on 3D Blu-ray. That version was released exclusively via Panasonic on December 1.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade set PC sales records upon its release in January 2007, selling 2.4 million units worldwide in 24 hours. In November 2008, Blizzard Entertainment trumped its own high-water mark, when Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million units in a single day.
With the third expansion to its 12 million-subscriber-strong massively multiplayer online role-playing game on store shelves last week, Blizzard has confirmed that the streak has continued. Today, the Activision sister company announced that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm sold through more than 3.3 million units worldwide within 24 hours of … Read more
ATLANTA--Not many birds of a feather flocked together for Rovio's official Angry Birds Day meetup yesterday--in Atlanta at least.
Rovio promoted the event, scheduled to mark the first anniversary of the popular game for mobile devices, as a celebration of 3 trillion popped piggies and the chance for fans to meet, play, and compare scores. And while enthusiasts signed up for meetups in 65 countries, poor planning and only a couple of show-ups made the event here in Atlanta seem rather lackluster despite 28 people expressing interest on the meetup site.
Our nest ended up being a brewery just north of downtown that had recently gone through a name change, which probably added to the confusion. (My fellow Crave contributor Matt Hickey reported that no one showed up for the meetup in rainy Seattle, though New York and Los Angeles enjoyed the sight of fans in Angry Birds costumes).
Still, despite the tepid showing here in Georgia, we managed to have some finch-flinging fun. After checking in and grabbing a pint, I came across David Moore (aka Cap'nDave), a mild-mannered thirty-something who secretly moonlights as an Angry Birds enthusiast. He was eager to talk about his passion for the game, and we were comparing scores and strategies after a few minutes.
It wasn't long before he revealed the depth of his superpowers. Moore has completely beat the game with three stars on all levels, has all golden eggs, a 97 percent achievement score, and was one of the top-rated players in the area (according to the built-in leaderboards). I knew I had found the superfan I was looking for. … Read more
Angry Birds creator Rovio is ruffling its feathers and spreading its wings. At an event today touting the game's popularity, the company discussed an in-app payment system it will soon open up to all developers.
Dubbed Bad Piggy Bank, the service is designed to be a "one-touch payment" option for consumers who want to buy goods in-game. Rovio was quick to point out that no registration or credit card is required at the time of purchase. Instead, users will be billed on their monthly phone bill.
Rovio said its decision to launch Bad Piggy Bank is rooted … Read more
Proving that its PlayStation Move controller won't focus only on casual games, Sony has unveiled a Sharp Shooter attachment for the peripheral.
The Sharp Shooter features a machine-gun design and holds both the Move motion controller and the separate Navigation controller. The mostly gray attachment offers "easily accessible buttons, a responsive digital trigger, adjustable shoulder stock, and convenient access to the Navigation controller," Sony said in a company blog post yesterday. To add even more realism to the Sharp Shooter, Sony has included a reload button and "pump action." To make it less realistic at … Read more
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