After staying on top of the UK retail charts for 41 weeks, Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has earned the distinction of being the best-selling retail game "ever" in the United Kingdom. The game took down the previous record holder, Brain Training.

According to retail tracking data from Gfk Chart-Track, Modern Warfare 2 managed to stay in top ten for 38 out of 41 weeks - falling below that threshold last week. It probably didn't hurt the bottom line when the game moved 1.23 million copies on the day of release and brought in around £47 million ($77.85 million) for Activision in the UK; in the U.S. the game grossed around $550 million in its first five days of release.

A pretty impressive accomplishment for Activision and Infinity Ward, though most of the people that worked on it no longer work at the wholly-owned Activision studio. Let's see if the new IW is capable of filling the shoes worn by the founding members of Respawn Entertainment.

While the fact that paintball-themed videogames exist at all comes as news to us, one of the more eminent practitioners of the hobby/sport has a new game coming out with Majesco, following a rocky multi-game partnership with Activision.

While speaking to GamesRadar about his forthcoming title, Greg Hastings talked a bit about his time spent with Activision, and they are not fond memories. “I had to fire Activision for doing such a poor job,” said Hastings.

He continued, “Within 24 hours of me shipping my PlayStation 2 game, Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max'd, they sent me a letter and they said, 'We feel you've abandoned your franchise, and we're going to commence making games called Greg Hastings Paintball without Greg Hastings.’”
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StarCraft II sold over 1.5 million copies during the first 48 hours after release, according to reports from Activision Blizzard earlier this week. Yet despite these record-breaking numbers, analysts are noting that sales aren't quite living up to expectations.

According to investment group Lazard Capital's analyst Colin Sebastian, "[T]his number is light of some forecasts, [but] we view this as largely a U.S./Europe number, with the majority of users in Korea still not reflected in the count." Sebastian notes that distribution models in Korea are often different than in the West, where users typically purchase a game outright, at or near launch. As a result, U.S. and European sales tend to be "front-loaded" towards heavy sales at launch that trail off fairly quickly.
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What happens when you take on one of the most powerful lawyers in Los Angeles? You get your teeth knocked in. That's exactly what has happened to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who recently lost a lawsuit against Patricia Glaser - described by California Lawyer magazine as "one of the fiercest litigators in Los Angeles” - over $1 million in unpaid legal fees. For the record, Activision was not named, nor was it ever a part of the two lawsuits mentioned in this story.

According to court records and a story on LA Times Blog, the basis of the lawsuit finds its roots in a 2007 sexual harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former flight attendant Cynthia Madvig in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Kotick, Andrew Gordon, the head of Goldman Sachs & Co.’s investment banking division in Los Angeles, and Cove Management, a company the duo created to manage a Gulfstream III private jet they jointly owned. The suit also named Phil Berg, a pilot employed by Cove. Read More

Uniloc, which specializes in computer security and copy protection initiatives, has filed a lawsuit against Sony Corp. of America, Activision Blizzard, Aspy Media—and a handful of other software companies—alleging that the defendants infringed on a Uniloc patent which centers on a system for registering software.

The Orange County Business Journal pointed us towards the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, on July 29. Additional defendants include Borland Software corp., McAfee, Inc. and Quark, Inc.
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Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer didn’t pull any punches when talking about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick at this week’s Develop Conference in the UK.

To be fair, as Crave notes, Schafer’s Brutal Legend game was originally going to be published by Activision before it merged with Blizzard. The game was dropped and eventually published by Electronic arts, which could have contributed to some of the bad taste in Schafer’s mouth.

Among Schafer’s comments on Kotick: Read More

Activision Blizzard’s non-profit The Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) has announced plans to donate $25,000 to Swords to Plowshares, a San Francisco Bay Area service organization that provides counseling, training and placement assistance to veterans.

Swords to Plowshares was formed in 1974 and helps over 2,000 homeless and low-income veterans a year. Given that the unemployment rate for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was put at 21.1 percent earlier this year by the U.S. Labor Department, the money seems well channeled.

Executive Director Michael Blecker touched on what the money would mean for the organization, “The funding provided by the Call of Duty Endowment will ensure that we can continue to provide the face-to-face counseling for our veterans, which is critical in the effort to connect them with local employers that want to utilize their experiences as proven leaders and superior skill set.” Read More

Phoenix Online Studios, which had received a cease-and-desist from Activision over a fan-made King’s Quest game, has now been given the go-ahead by the publishing giant and will release the first episode of The Silver Lining on July 10.

At the end of June, the development team wrote that Activision reached out a few months earlier with “a desire to revisit their decision.” After some negotiating the cease-and-desist was rescinded and Phoenix was granted a non-commercial license.

Ironically, Phoenix went through the exact same scenario when King’s Quest was still under the control of Vivendi. That publisher too had issued a C&D on the project, only to cave to fan pressure later on and bestow a non-commercial license on the game.
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Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said that he is confident that the company's online strategy will help it to weather the storm as sales models shift from disc-based to digital. He also added that 70 percent of the company's operating profit comes from "non-console based video games."

For a better understanding of what that means, a quote:

"Today, probably 70 percent of our operating profit comes from non-console-based video games. So, while you might see a month-to-month change or volatility against expectations, that doesn't really get us too concerned." Operating income for Activision's January-March 2010 quarter alone was $511 million.

While one might want to tie that number to DLC sales from games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, but a spokesperson for the company told Gamasutra that Kotick's statement doesn't include console based content of any kind. Maryanne Lataif, VP of corporate communications for Activision Blizzard, told Gamasutra in a phone call that "non-console-based video games" means just that. Read More

While hopes for UK tax breaks for game developers may be fading, industry groups and developers aren’t giving up without a fight.

Trade association TIGA, along with representatives from Activision, recently met with MP’s Don Foster, Jim McGovern and Stewart Hosie to continue their full court press for tax relief. It’s been speculated that tax relief for makers of interactive entertainment may have to take a back seat to more important measures needed to prop up Britain’s floundering economy.

TIGA Chief Richard Wilson stated: Read More

Activision and the Call of Duty Endowment have announced the launch of a scholarship program designed to assist veterans interested in pursuing degrees in videogame development.

The program is being launched at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin and Austin Community College of Austin, Texas. Four $2,500 scholarships for full-time students will be awarded at each school, while part-time scholars are also eligible for $1,250 awards.

The scholarships will assist awardees in paying for things like software, transportation, and other educational needs, since the G.I. Bill covers tuition for vets at most U.S. schools.

C.O.D.E. plans to donate $100,000 to fund the scholarships and hopes to keep the program going for at least five years at each school.

Applications are now being accepted at both Madison College (July 30th deadline) and Austin Community College (June 1st deadline).

Thirty-eight Infinity Ward employees have filed a lawsuit against Activision, alleging breach of contract, violation of California labor code and breach of f the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

G4 reports that the group is seeking a “large amount of unpaid royalties,” which a lawyer for the group pegged at between $75.0 and $125.0 million. Attorney Bruce Isaacs told G4, “Activision has withheld most of the money to force many of my people to stay, some against their will, so that they would finish the delivery of Modern Warfare 3.”

In a legal document, the Infinity Ward group claimed that Activision withheld property in order to keep the workers “hostage.”
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The latest round in the battle between Activision and the band No Doubt, which centers on the depiction of the group in Band Hero, has gone to the Gwen Stefani-fronted quartet.

No Doubt originally sued the publisher for turning them into a “virtual karaoke circus act,” because of the game’s ability to use the likenesses of rockers while performing the music of other groups. Activision, for its part, countersued, claiming breach of contract and unjust enrichment by the band.
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Activision fired back at former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella in state court pleadings filed Thursday, alleging in a cross-complaint that the two former execs breached multiple contracts, violated their fiduciary duty and loyalty duties to the company, and broke the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

These terms can be a bit daunting and unfamiliar to those outside the legal field, so let’s break them down a bit, based on Activision's filings:
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Unless your domicile is under a rock you are probably aware that Activision has sacked the two heads of Call of Duty maker Infinity Ward, over what it termed insubordination.

Following their dismissal, President Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella filed a lawsuit against Activision Publishing, alleging that the pair’s contracts were terminated “weeks before they were to be paid substantial royalty payments as part of their existing contracts for Modern Warfare 2.” The suit claims “breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrong termination in violation of public policy, and declaratory relief.” 

The duo’s lawyer, Robert Schwartz of O'Melveny & Myers LLP, stated:

Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st.”

Additionally, a press release announcing the lawsuit stated:

Modern Warfare 2 is arguably one of the most successful games in history and together with Call of Duty, has generated more than $3 billion in sales for Activision.  In addition, Activision seized control of the Infinity Ward studio, to which Activision had previously granted creative control over all Modern Warfare-branded games.  The suit was filed to vindicate the rights of West and Zampella to be paid the compensation they have earned, as well as the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games.

In response to the lawsuit, Activision stated that it “was disappointed” and believes that the claims are “meritless.” G4 managed to get their hands on internal legal documents from Activision which indicated that the company is looking for documents to possibly use against West and Zampella.

Here’s what Activision is looking for specifically:

• "Documents regarding past, current or future IW projects, including but not limited to any and all businesses analyses of future projects (e.g. Modern Warfare 3)"
• "Documents regarding any potential 'spin out' of IW, including but not limited to any communications with IW employees, West or Zampella regarding forming a new studio independent of Activision"
• "Documents regarding West and Zampella's communications with Activision's competitors, including but not limited to Electronic Arts"

So, it appears Activision’s actions against the IW pair may have been in reaction to a fear that they were going to jump ship to another publisher or form their own new studio.  Note that when Infinity Ward was formed in 2002, it was made up of a group of former developers from 2015, Inc., who developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, which was in turn published by Electronic Arts.

Those that need to catch up on the drama should head over to G4, which has been all over the “Fall of Duty” story.

A group of King’s Quest enthusiasts who have been working on their own content for the 1990s-era adventure game have been forced to abandon their project due to action from Activision.

A variety of King’s Quest games were released under the Sierra label in the 1990s. Volunteers began work on their project, dubbed The Silver Lining, back in 2002 under the name of Phoenix Online Studios, reports Kotaku. While initially they ran into problems with Sierra’s parent company Vivendi Universal—receiving a cease-and-desist order in 2005—a public backlash over the cancellation of the game more or less forced Vivendi to grant a non-commercial “fan license” to the project.

Everything remained status quo until recently, when Activision, which merged with Vivendi in 2008, issued a cease-and-desist to Phoenix Online, indicating “that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining.”

GP’s own legal guru Dan Rosenthal offered his take on the revocation of the non-commercial fan license:

It's always unfortunate when you have a lot of hard work on a fan project go to waste. Unfortunately the real problem here for Phoenix Online was the bad luck of Sierra changing hands from Cendant to Vivendi Universal to Activision Blizzard. Changes of ownership often bring with them changing priorities, and who knows what sort of future Activision sees for the IP. Like many independent studios, Phoenix Online simply wouldn't be able to afford the cost of ignoring the cease-and-desist letter and risking a potential copyright infringement lawsuit.

The real damage here, however, comes from the chilling effect that this sort of action places on fan studios operating under non-commercial licenses (or even worse, no license but a "wink and a nudge" from the IP holder). Now, every fan project going forward is going to be reminded of the Sword of Damocles over their heads from pouring their efforts into someone else's IP.

The Texas-based Patent Compliance Group has filed a lawsuit against Activision Publishing over what it terms false marking, or products improperly labeled with patent or patent-pending language used for the purpose of “deceiving the public.”

Specifically, the suit, filed February 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (though we are looking at an amended complaint filed February 22), levels three charges against Activision:

• Marked products with patents having a scope which does not cover the marked products
• Marked products with language indicating that the products are the subject of pending patent applications when no relevant application is pending and/or
• Used in advertising in connection with unpatented products the word “patent” and/or any word or number importing that the product is patented.

The complaint alleges that “false patent marking is a serious problem,” and that “acts of false marking deter innovation and stifle competition in the marketplace.”

The complaint lists a plethora of specific patents and accuses Activision of using them “out of scope” in products including DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, Guitar Hero Van Halen and Guitar Hero Metallica. As an example, one patent the complaint calls out is number 5,739,457, entitled Method and Apparatus for Simulating a Jam Session and Instructing a User How to Play the Drums.  The suit labels Activision’s use of the patent as out of scope because, as an example, the original patent covered “an apparatus that comprises a money validation unit to accept and validate a user’s money and a video display system and a control system for receiving an input from the money validation unit,” faculties which consoles do not possess. Patent 5,739,457 can be viewed as a call out at the bottom of Activision’s Guitar Hero Mobile site.

Regarding use of the phrase “patent pending,” plaintiff accuses the defendant of using such terminology on DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and Guitar Hero Smash Hits when “defendant knew that the Patent Pending Marked Products did not have any associated patent applications pending.”

The suit was filed under a qui tam action, which permits members of the public to sue on behalf of the government and seeks damages of “not more than $500 for each of Defendant’s violations, with half going to the Patent Compliance Group and half to the U.S. government. As Gamasutra notes, with the titles listed in this complaint having sold millions of units, per incident damages could wind up totaling an extremely hefty amount of cash.

If anyone’s interested in receiving a copy of the complaint, email me (pete@...).


|Via Gamasutra|

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is definitely not afraid to speak his mind, which may or may not be a good thing for investors in his company. His recent comments at the D.I.C.E. Summit did nothing to change that perception.

While Kotaku labeled his speech “warm and fuzzy,” one section of his talk centered on why he doesn’t play games anymore, and caught our attention:

I play from time to time, but the nature of my personality is such that if I was regularly playing Modern Warfare 2, I would not be able to stop and it would be at the expense of all my regular responsibilities.

What does it say about the addictiveness of videogames if the CEO of the third largest publisher in the world can’t play games because of his addictive personality? Granted, as CEO, Kotick’s days are probably packed incredibly tight, and, as he admitted, he is a single father to three daughters, so it’s probably commendable that he puts aside games for work and his family, Still, it’s not a stretch to imagine videogame critics jumping all over Kotick’s quote and using it in future assaults on videogames.

What do you think? Another case of Kotick sticking his foot in it, or is this just a case of a CEO letting his hair down and talking from the heart?

Kotick's full speech embedded via G4.

Activision’s Blizzard’s Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), which provides funding to assist war veterans, has announced another funding initiative.

CODE’s first donation was a $125,000 endowment to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, which enabled the group to open a vocational rehab center. Via Bloomberg we learn that CODE’s second major donation will be a $100,000 grant to the Wounded Warrior Project, a Florida-based charity that assists injured veterans transitioning to either civilian life or new military positions. The funds will be used to open a new Transition Training Academy (TTA).

CODE also provided assistance to the families of victims from last year’s Fort Hood shooting.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told Bloomberg that he hopes to grow CODE’s endowments to between $50.0 and $100.0 million by the end of this decade. Current CODE funding totals about $1.0 million.

Kotick added:

Being able to meet these brave men and women and hear their stories firsthand has strengthened my conviction that the private sector as well as the government is responsible for ensuring they have employment and that we don’t penalize them for their years of service to this country.”

Note: The Bloomberg story puts CODE’s grant to the Paralyzed Veterans of America at $375,000, versus our original story which reported it as a $125,000 grant. Official PR (PDF) announcing the founding of CODE put the figure at $125,000, so we will stick with that.

As part of its annual awards, the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp. will honor the founder of GamePolitics with a special award.

Dennis McCauley, who also wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer in addition to manning the helm here, will be receiving a special Honorary Award for his “contributions to the gaming community and gaming journalism.”

Additionally, 209 nominees were announced across 47 categories for awards designed to pay respect to the interactive entertainment industry’s best in the fields of art technology and production. Sony led the way with 47 total nominations, followed by Electronic Arts with 28, Activision with 20 and Eidos with 18.

Game of the Year nominees include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Batman: Arkham Asylum also led the way among games in total nominations, with 17, followed closely by Uncharted 2’s 16 nominations.

A voting body of 640 journalists and writers picked the nominees. Winners will be announced on February 27.

Congratulations Dennis!

We will have to find a new nickname for professional plaintiff/serial suer Erik Estavillo, as he is dropping all his lawsuits.

Estavillo wrote that his medical conditions, particularly symptoms related to panic disorder and Crohn’s disease, contributed to his decision to abandon the cases. He indicated that the long wait for cases to be heard was starting to get to him, causing his doctors to advise him to walk away from the lawsuits in order to improve his health. Estavillo also provided us with some individual reasons for dropping each case, mostly due to those being sued making improvements or fixes which seemed to appease Erik.

Estavillo had sued Sony over being banned from the PlayStation Network following Resistance: Fall of Man online gaming sessions. He had alleged that Sony was ineffective at stopping players under the age of 17 from playing the game and that banning him from the network amounted to theft, in regards to his PSN pre-paid points. Estavillo wrote that a signup page for PSN appears to have been added, which requires a parent or master account to add a new account to a PS3, addressing his concern of younger kids playing the game.

Erik has also sued Microsoft over a red ring of death on his Xbox 360 and Nintendo over a Wii system update that rendered his homebrew channel unusable. Estavillo said he just learned that Microsoft is not charging 360 owners to fix a console that received a RROD and that he has found many websites that would easily allow him to re-install the home brew channel if he so chose to do so.

A suit against World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzards had alleged that characters in WOW walked to slow, thus enabling the game’s publisher to continue to reap monthly subscription fees as it took long periods of time just to travel in the game. Estavillo notes that now, it appears that WOW avatars walk much faster in Ghost mode.

Another factor in dropping the suits was that Estavillo could not afford to pay the process server fees needed to serve the people he had subpoenaed for some of his cases. Those subpoenaed by Estavillo had included Bill Gates, Winona Ryder, Depeche Mode’s Martin Lee Gore, Lady Sovereign and Krayzie Bone.

Estavillo will also drop his most recent case, which targeted a variety of gaming and popular websites for libel.

The lack of dead U.S. civilians portrayed in Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 implies that foreign civilians are more expendable than their American counterparts.

This is the vein of a column appearing in France24, in which the author notes that the game’s Brazilian and “No Russian” levels feature plenty of dead civilian bodies, while a level set in Washington D.C. depicts nary a body from American non-combatants.

Mehdi Chebil writes:

But while Activision producers go to great lengths to depict fatally wounded Russian civilians leaving big streaks of blood as they crawl on the airport floor – all in the name of realism - they designed the US-based levels in such a way that no virtual American civilian can be seen nor hurt.

An Activision representative refused to comment “…on the use of civilians in our games.”

The author also thinks that the media focused too much on the game’s overall violence:

The fact that critics focused their attacks on the generic violence of “Modern Warfare 2”, forgetting its big red 18 rating, without playing enough of the game to see the discrimination it applies within its civilian categories, also reveals another form of contempt for the entire video game industry.

He encourages the media to “pay attention to some of the videogame industry’s more disturbing messages.”

GP: Just to play devil’s advocate, the “No Russian” airport level could feature American civilians… there’s no way to know without checking passports or ids.

70.0% of parents pay “close” attention to videogame ratings when making a purchase for themselves or their children according to a new study from Activision Publishing and The Harrison Group.

The survey was conducted as part of Activision’s Ratings Are Not a Game initiative, which is designed to educate parents and consumers further on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating system.

Additional survey statistics showed that 63.0% of parents with children consider themselves a gamer, with that number increasing to 83.0% for parents 35 years of age and younger. Additionally, 82.0% of gamers indicated awareness of ESRB ratings, as did 75.0% of children.

76.0% of adults surveyed indicated they were comfortable with videogames being a part of their family’s activities.

Gamers also spent an average of 32.0% of their free time on entertainment, with 19.0% of that time spent on videogames.

Mike Griffith, Activision Publishing President and CEO, added:

Parents rely on and value the ESRB ratings in helping them decide which games to allow their children to play. Our 'Ratings Are Not A Game' education initiative underscores our commitment to helping parents better understand and utilize the ratings system as they select age appropriate games and determine the best way for the entire family to enjoy the gaming experience.

Research was culled from 1,201 online surveys of videogamers, and their parents, between the ages of 6 and 44.

An Indiana man wanted on drug charges was tracked down in Canada, thanks to his World of Warcraft addiction.

Following a 2007 warrant issued for his arrest, Alfred Hightower of Howard County, Indiana had fled to Canada reports KokomoPerspective.com. Hightower was wanted on charges of dealing marijuana and both schedule III and IV controlled substances.

Detective Matt Roberson began tracking the wanted man using information obtained from a childhood friend of Hightower’s. Roberson eventually learned of Hightower’s dependence on WOW and subpoenaed Activision Blizzard for more information on the fugitive.

The publisher's cooperation seemed to surprise Roberson:

“They don’t have to respond to us, and I was under the assumption that they wouldn’t,” said Roberson. “It had been three or four months since I had sent the subpoena. I just put it in the back of my mind and went on to do other things. Then I finally got a response from them. They sent me a package of information. They were very cooperative. It was nice that they were that willing to provide information.”

After zeroing in on Hightower’s location using a combination of WOW billing address, IP address and Google Earth, Canadian authorities were alerted and Hightower was nabbed in Ottawa, Canada and deported to Minnesota, where U.S. Marshals held him for Howard County authorities.

The article also features a link to a WOW Armory listing for Hightower’s character, a Level 80 Tauren Shaman.

Thanks Dan!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 raked in more than $550 million in its first week of sales, making it the most popular entertainment launch in history. That popularity has also shown up in the number of unauthorized downloads, topping the charts as the most pirated game of 2009.

According to numbers posted at TorrentFreak, as of November, the PC version of MW2 had been downloaded from BitTorrent more than 4.1 million times, with the Xbox 360 version being downloaded another 970,000 times. Those numbers far exceed Spore on the PC and Street Fighter IV on the 360, both coming in second.

According to the article:

The overall trend across all platforms is that, unlike last year, all of the games are 2009 releases. What makes Modern Warfare 2’s chart-topping even more impressive is that this has been achieved after just two months of availability. We further see that the figures for the most downloaded titles have more than doubled compared to last year, equaling the growth in uTorrent users.

The top Wii game to be downloaded was New Super Mario Bros. with 1.15 million downloads.

(Thanks to DarkSaber for the tip, since we know he loves posts on MW2 and Activision)

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is targeting at least one operator of a commercial Guitar Hero arcade unit over what it says are unpaid licensing fees associated with operating the game.

The operator in question posted on the Arcade-Museum forums (thanks TechDirt) that ASCAP is demanding an $800 a year license to operate the unit legally. The operator added that, while his place of business does have live musical acts, they are relegated to performing original (i.e. their own) songs in order to circumvent just such a need to pay a royalty fee.

While there might be some confusion on either or both sides if a consumer version of Guitar Hero was being used, it’s rather clear that in this case a commercial arcade unit is at the center of the story, as the site operator indicated he told the ASCAP representative to contact Raw Thrills, a purveyor of arcade units, including Guitar Hero.  Also, the ASCAP rep told the operator that she viewed the Guitar Hero unit as a jukebox of sorts.

ASCAP’s licensing FAQ contains the question “I'm interested in playing music in my restaurant or other business. I know that I need permission for live performances. Do I need permission if I am using only CD's, records, tapes, radio or TV?”

The answer posted on the site:

Yes, you will need permission to play records or tapes in your establishment. Permission for radio and television transmissions in your business is not needed if the performance is by means of public communication of TV or radio transmissions by eating, drinking, retail or certain other establishments of a certain size which use a limited number of speakers or TVs, and if the reception is not further transmitted (for example, from one room to another) from the place in which it is received, and there is no admission charge.

We have a request for clarification into ASCAP and will update this story if a response or statement is issued.

Update: AN ASCAP spokesperson told GP, "ASCAP is currently in negotiations with the manufacturer for the commercial use of these machines."

Color-blind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gamers have started an online petition in the hopes that it will convince developer Infinity Ward to release a patch for the game that addresses their needs.

In multiplayer MW2 matches, the quickest way to tell a teammate from an enemy is if their name is in red (enemy) or green (teammate). The same colors are used in the game’s radar, which allows players to view the location of others, both friend and foe. The petition cites statistics that 8.0% of all males are color blind and 0.5% of females.

A glitch of some kind has also affected the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2. As noted on Geek.com, in multiplayer matches, players are running around with unlimited ammo, firing off their noob tubes at will. Rumor is it’s the result of a modder’s exploit that gets passed around to everyone in the online game, residing in the 360’s cache. Disconnecting from Xbox Live and rebooting the console seems to get rid of the problem. Infinity Ward is aware of the problem and has promised a fix.


|Via Evil Avatar|

Activision has filed a countersuit against rockers No Doubt, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

The move comes in response to No Doubt’s suit of Activision over the ability of gamers to use No Doubt on-screen avatars to perform other band’s music in the game Band Hero. No Doubt claimed that such an implementation relegated them to a “virtual karaoke act.”

Activision’s counterclaim was filed December 3 in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Western Division. As part of the complaint (full PDF available here), Activision attached a copy of a Professional Services and Character License Agreement between the parties, dated May 21, 2009. Activision wrote that the contract “speaks for itself,” and denied allegations of wrong doing.

In response to No Doubt’s main complaint, Activision wrote:

Activision admits that although it is possible to program a videogame whereby particular in-game characters can only be selected when certain songs are played, Plaintiff first requested this only after the "Band Hero" programming was finalized, had been submitted to all of the U.S. console manufacturers for approval and had been approved for manufacture by most console manufacturers…

Activision is seeking judgment in its favor, unspecified damages and interest, a return from No Doubt of all benefits and payments, an order for No Doubt to pay the “full cost of this action” and “reasonable” attorney fees, along with further awards and relief that the Court “deems just and proper.”


|Via The Hollywood Reporter|

Since it’s Monday and we can all use a bit of levity, check out the embedded video from Nexon, the developer of Combat Arms.

The video spoofs Infinity Ward’s now infamous Fight Against Grenade Spam (F.A.G.S.) video, which called out grenade spammers in the Call of Duty series. Nexon applies the same anti-explosive theme to its online, multiplayer first-person shooter. Video funding was provided by “Fight Against Nade Spammers (F.A.N.S.).”

This video is not immune to criticism either however: several YouTube commenters note that the bleeped out curse words in the video are the same ones that got them banned from Combat Arms itself.

Retailer Game, Activision and Xbox Live have teamed up for a UK-based charity drive based around Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Activision will donate £1 to the War Child charity for every UK gamer playing MW2 on Xbox Live on December 5th and 6th. Additionally, Xbox Live Gold Memberships will be free that weekend in an effort to boost participation in Games for Good.

War Child benefits children affected by war.