activision

Last week a Modern Warfare-themed countdown site dubbed findmakarov.com went live, sparking rumors that Activision would reveal its latest Call of Duty project at this week's Game Developers Conference.

Now, that notion appears to be false.

In a statement sent to GameSpot, Activision said the following about the Web site: "There seems to be a great deal of speculation about the next Call of Duty project. Let me be clear that we are not revealing [anything] yet. Anything indicating otherwise is a hoax."

According to Game Slice, the countdown site is not for Modern Warfare 3, … Read more

In 2009, Activision used the Game Developers Choice Awards--the Game Developers Conference award ceremony--to premiere the trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The preview was a bare-bones affair, with audio clips auguring the controversial content of the now internationally infamous "No Russian" airport-massacre level.

Now, it appears history is about to repeat itself--almost. This morning, the site findmakarov.com opened with graphics and sound cues straight out of Modern Warfare 2's ad campaign (as of 12:50 p.m. PT, the site appeared to be experiencing intermittent connection problems).

The site's title also references Vladimir Makarov, the ultranationalist terrorist who was the primary villain for a large portion of the 2009 blockbuster actioner--more than hinting at a Modern Warfare 3 reveal. (The site itself is owned by a URL-registration front company used by corporations to hide their Web domains.)

Read more of "Modern Warfare 3 teaser site opens" at GameSpot. … Read more

Ever since Sony sent Aibo to the great cyber-kennel in the sky, I've been longing for a new robot dog. Activision and Sega seem to be trying to take pity on people like me with Wappy, a frisky little artificial friend that links to a Nintendo DS.

One of several intriguing new high-tech toys shown at this year's Toy Fair in New York, Wappy's personality evolves as it interacts with its owner, much like the Tamagotchi digital pet of yore.

Wappy is both a video game and a simple robot toy that can sing and dance. They're synced so Wappy is the same dog on-screen and in robot form. The latter was apparently made by Sega, creator of the iDog.

Just like the Nintendogs game, users can play with and train the virtual Wappy on the DS when they're away from home, and then play with the robot when they get back. The goal of the game is to raise Wappy from a puppy, teaching it new tricks and caring for it.

Little Wappy is a far cry from the intelligent, charming Aibo, but I'll take what I can get. It's slated to come out this fall.

… Read more

Famed Halo developer Bungie is working on a new title that could be quite different from what it has offered in the past.

Bungie is working on a massively multiplayer online (MMO) first-person shooter, currently named "Destiny," gaming blog Kotaku is reporting, citing an unnamed source. The source told Kotaku that the title is built on a new graphics engine that Bungie has developed, and will live completely online. The person told the gaming blog that the title is basically a "World of Warcraft in space."

This isn't the first time that rumors have cropped … Read more

Activision Blizzard's two strongest franchises helped the company have a stronger financial showing in 2010.

The video game publisher announced yesterday that it generated over $4.4 billion in revenue last year, up from the nearly $4.3 billion it tallied in 2009. It was able to nab a profit of $418 million last year, nearly quadrupling the $113 million profit it posted in 2009.

Even with help from the recently released Call of Duty: Black Ops and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the company reported that its revenue slid in the fourth quarter to $1.4 billion, compared with … Read more

Like a great band breaking up, Guitar Hero is no more. Activision, the company behind the once-popular series of games, said today in a quarterly earnings statement that it's pulling the plug on the franchise.

The series, which has been around for six years, hasn't been profitable lately. About two years ago, the franchise had racked up more than $2 billion in sales from its various installments. But sales plummeted to the point that the latest installment in the series, Warriors of Rock, sold fewer than 100,000 copies during its debut month last September. Part of the reason is competition from a new generation of games that don't need specialized controllers, especially those for the PS3's Move and the Xbox 360's Kinect.

The brand has had many iterations, including "World Tour," which featured many notable musicians as playable characters, and mobile versions for iOS devices and Nintendo's DS series of handhelds. The game's popularity paved the way for bigger games like Rock Band, which have likely also played a role in Guitar Hero's decreased sales.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Amanda Caparoon, a Seattle bartender and music gaming fan, when told Activision was burying the brand. "There's cooler stuff now, like Rock Band. And dance-based games are where it's at now." … Read more

Call of Duty may be a blockbuster success on a global scale, but Activision's cash cow isn't quite bullet-proof. For example, Epic Games is taking shots at the franchise with Duty Calls: The Calm Before the Storm, a free downloadable game parody that mocks the military first-person shooter and a number of its gameplay conventions.

The difference between Duty Calls and its inspiration becomes apparent as soon as players start the game. Upon being dropped into a level, a voice gives the player marching orders over the radio.

"Here's your objective," the commanding officer says. "Blah blah blah blah secret base. Blah blah blah blah plan. Blah blah blah nuclear missile bomb. Blah blah blah counting on you. Utmost importance. Win. Good luck." … Read more

If any game company stole the show at the end of 2010, it was Activision Blizzard.

After it announced record-breaking sales with Call of Duty: Black Ops recently, the game company is now touting the success of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

The third expansion for the venerable massively multiplayer online role-playing game has hit 4.7 million unit sales since its launch on December 7, Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard announced today. Blizzard said that based on its internal estimates, the milestone has helped the title reach a new record for monthly PC game sales.

WoW Cataclysm's … Read more

Activision wants to make sure you know just how popular the latest version of Call of Duty really is.

Call of Duty: Black Ops, released in early November, has a bigger audience than Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and other late-night talk show hosts combined can muster in an entire week (the week of December 6, to be specific), according to Activision.

In addition, the company said that more players are enjoying Black Ops than watched the series finale of "Lost." Not even the average viewership for the 2010 World Series could match Black Ops' audience. (… Read more