Rocket Riot Scores Design Award

Codeglue, a Dutch game development studio that has honed the craft of addictive gameplay, is happy to announce they have won a coveted Dutch Game Award! Codeglue’s Rocket Riot – which was released on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® to critical acclaim – walked away with the show’s Best Visual Design Award, beating out huge titles with multi-million dollar budgets such as Killzone 2 and Overlord 2.

“We are absolutely thrilled to win this award, not only because of the level of competition we were up against but also because we know that Rocket Riot is an outstanding title with a look and feel all its own,” said Peter de Jong, CEO and founder of Codeglue. “Our team is so proud and our sincere thanks go out to everyone who has supported us and our titles over the years.”

Rocket Riot is an action-packed side-view shooter featuring a bazooka-wielding jetpack soldier. With a highly stylized 8-bit era feel, players blast their way through the environment against enemies or multiplayer foes online. Navigating through a completely destructible environment, players can uncover special power ups or even burrow into different areas of the map. It is currently available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points.

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The 2009 Dutch Game Awards were held on November 12, 2009 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. They serve as an acknowledgement of the creativity, expertise and business achievements of the Dutch game developers and reward the best The Netherlands has to offer to the digital entertainment industry each year.

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Modern Warfare 2 Grosses $550 Million in 5 Days

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov 18, 2009 - Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues to shatter theatrical box office and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell through in dollars. The biggest entertainment launch in history set a new worldwide estimated five-day sell-through record of approximately $550 million, according to internal Activision estimates.

Modern Warfare 2's launch beat all previous first-and five-day entertainment industry box office, book and video game sell-through records*:

- The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
- The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
- The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)
- The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)
- The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows ($220 million)
- The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million)

Modern Warfare 2's blast radius also extends to Xbox LIVE, in which the blockbuster title's epic release established the following new standards, according to Microsoft:

- More than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone.
- More than 2.2 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in one day on November 10th. A new one-day record for Xbox LIVE.
- More than 11 million achievements were unlocked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day.

"In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon," said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. "The title's success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media."

Despite the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision Blizzard remains cautious about the U.S. and global economy as well as other variables that can affect industry fundamentals and our own performance, including consumer spending which remains a significant concern.

*All references cited are sourced according to www.boxofficemojo.com or www.guinnessworldrecords.com

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Activision Dedicates Third Studio to Call of Duty Series

While the LA Times' recent article on the Modern Warfare 2 launch sticks closely to the now standard "mainstream news outlet shocked by dedication of gamers and sales of a particular game" format, a previously undisclosed bit of information was revealed near the end of the piece:As Activision seems to be discovering this year with Guitar Hero, there's danger when a title is overexposed with too many iterations. Nonetheless, the publisher has aggressive expansion plans for Call of Duty. Although Infinity Ward and Treyarch have produced sequels in alternating years since 2005, the publisher now has a third development studio working on future versions.While the studio in question wasn't named, a prime candidate would seem to be the newly formed Sledgehammer Games, the home of former Visceral studio heads Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. Sledgehammer Games was purportedly founded to "(create) a new game based on one of Activision's existing franchises" (via Gamespot.). Given the critical reception of Dead Space, this would seem to fit their qualifications. Requests for comment have not yet been returned by Activision.

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Activision Announces the Formation of Sledgehammer Games

Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the appointments of industry veterans Glen A. Schofield as Vice President and General Manager and Michael Condrey as Vice President and COO of Sledgehammer Games, a new wholly-owned game development studio located in Foster City, California. Sledgehammer Games is currently in development on an as-yet-unannounced new videogame.

"Both Glen and Michael have outstanding reputations in the industry through their work as GM and COO of Visceral Games, and as the leadership of the Dead Space development team," said Dave Stohl, Executive Vice President of Studios at Activision. "We are excited to add their combined 30 years of experience and expertise to our management team."

"Michael and I are thrilled to be building a brand new studio for Activision. This was an opportunity for us to assemble a world-class team made up of developers with a proven track record in delivering top-rated games. We know what it takes to develop a Game of the Year title, and we also know that the title needs the support of a strong publisher to make the game a success," said Glen A. Schofield. "We are honored to be part of the family of amazing developers that have delivered some of the best-selling games in the industry and we look forward to continuing that success at Sledgehammer Games."

"Activision Blizzard's independent studio model is very empowering," said Michael Condrey. "We have a fantastic new studio facility, the foundation for a world-class team and the backing of the industry's most profitable game publisher. This was a rare opportunity we couldn't pass up and we are thankful for the support the Activision organization has shown us."

During their tenure at Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores,) Glen A. Schofield was the Executive Producer of Dead Space and Michael Condrey was the Sr. Development Director of the award-winning game. The Dead Space franchise has won more than 80 industry awards worldwide including the prestigious A.I.A.S Action Game of the Year and two B.A.F.T.A.S. They are joined at Sledgehammer Games by many award winning developers from across the industry. Sledgehammer Games is actively recruiting top industry talent to join their primary development team.

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EA to close Saboteur developer Pandemic Studios

The bad news from EA continues this week, as the publisher has confirmed the closure of Pandemic Studios today, after acquiring the developer along with Bioware in 2007. A representative from EA responded to our request for comment with the following:

The Pandemic properties will continue to live on at Playa Vista. Though the Westwood facility will be closed, a core IP team of Pandemic developers will work on Pandemic titles from the EALA campus in Playa Vista, with a focus on quality, cost management and schedule integrity.

While news of more layoffs at a developer is always disappointing, Pandemic has been rumored to be on the chopping block for some time. Their biggest recent release, Mercenaries 2, received a generally positive critical reception but underperformed at retail, and the cancellation of their over-budget Dark Knight title last year prompted the closure of their Brisbane offices. We'll update as further information becomes available.

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0D Beat Drop Arrives on Xbox Live Arcade

Arc System Works, a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products, is very proud to announce today the release of 0D Beat Drop, an eyeball-shattering fusion of the rhythm and puzzle genres for Xbox LIVE® Arcade video game and entertainment system from Microsoft!

What is Beat Drop?

To get a Beat Drop, just drop like-colored jewels next to one another in time to the music. A meter on the side of your screen shows the rhythm of your music, so keep your eyes on the meter and don’t miss a beat! The more Beat Drops you get, the stronger your attacks will be! With two or three chains of jewels, you’ll send dozens of shadow jewels to your opponent’s field! If you miss a beat, then the power you’ve built up will drop back down to zero, so remember to stay on the beat!

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0D Beat Drop Key Features:

Musical Multiplayer Mayhem!
Play locally or online in versus in either versus, co-op, or battle royale with up to 4 players!

Move to your own music!
You can use music that is on your Xbox 360, or on an external USB device, to create your own levels! Analyze the BPM for the music you want to play, and then drop some beats to your favorite song! Although this function only works in single-player mode, there’s still a leaderboard for it! Aim for a high score on your favorite songs!

Melodic Modes
Take on the computer in a variety of modes such as Planet Quest, Survival, Time Attack, Co-op, and Task modes.

Flashy fields!
There are 21 types of background and blocks for you to choose from. Pick whichever one you like, and have fun!

     

     

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0D Beat Drop has been rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB and is available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points.

Project Natal Coming November 2010 For Under $100?Michael Jackson Guitarist Orianthi Says MJ Wanted ‘This Is It’ Concerts To Be ‘Perfect’

Project Natal Coming November 2010 For Under $100?

MCV has reported "sources" of theirs have spilled the beans regarding Microsoft's highly anticipated controller-free 360 camera. According to these sources, Project Natal is slated for a worldwide release date of November 2010.

Microsoft has apparently been secretly promoting their upcoming Xbox 360 add-on in the UK, visiting publishers and developers to help get them more familiar with the hardware. This only makes sense since Microsoft will need to encourage as much development support as they can in order to secure support for Project Natal at launch.

Some more of the details that have come out involve a price point of 50 British pounds ($82) and a goal of 5 million units available at launch. It has also been reported that there are currently 14 titles in development that will coincide with the Project Natal launch. While those titles are not yet exactly known, we do know that many developers including Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney, EA, Konami, MTV, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ and Ubisoft have all expressed their support of Project Natal.

With a price below the $100 mark, Microsoft is counting on a large number of Xbox 360 owners to adopt the new hardware. Microsoft is banking on Project Natal helping further extend the lifespan of the Xbox 360 and they think that by offering a low cost piece of hardware that can unlock completely new and exciting experiences that do just that.

Stay tuned as we continue to cover the development of Project Natal as more information comes to light.

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