Report
20 CommentsPro-gaming in US and Europe 'well on its way' to being as big as South Korea market, says MLG boss
By Tracey Lien on Mar 12, 2013 03.12.13
Professional gaming and eSports in North America and Europe is "well on its way" to becoming as big as it is in markets like South Korea, according to Major League Gaming co-founder Sundance DiGiovanni. Speaking with Polygon, DiGiovanni said that the growth and engagement pattern MLG has seen indicates that eSports and competitive gaming are both on the rise, and if leagues like MLG can provide the structure and opportunity for the next generation of gamers and fans to get involved, eSports in the West could reach unprecedented heights. "I think that global competitive gaming and eSports is going to continue to grow," DiGiovanni said. "I think that you will see the same level of engagement and fandom that exists within markets like South Korea here in North America and Europe, and I...
Deals
21 CommentsMicrosoft discounting over 60 Xbox 360 games in the Xbox Live Ultimate Game Sale
By Dave Tach on Feb 22, 2013 02.22.13
Microsoft will kick off its Xbox Live Ultimate Game Sale next Tuesday, Feb. 26, offering discounts of up to 80 percent on over 60 Xbox 360 Games on Demand, according to a post on Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb's blog. The sale will last through Monday, March 4. Major Nelson will reveal each day's deals, which are available to both Xbox Live Gold and Silver members, through his Twitter account. Games set to be discounted include: Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed 2 Batman: Arkham Asylum Batman: Arkham City BioShock Borderlands Borderlands 2 Call of Juarez Call of Duty 2 Call of Duty 3 Call of Duty: Black Ops Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 C...
News
3 CommentsVoting open online for the Game Developers Choice Award
By Dave Tach on Feb 19, 2013 02.19.13
The virtual ballet box is open for the Game Developers Choice Audience Award and accepting nominations today through 5 p.m. ET March 1, according to the official website. Voters need to select a game from a list provided and enter an email address, from which you'll be prompted to confirm your vote. The list of nominated games includes: Assassin's Creed 3 Borderlands 2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Dishonored Dust: An Elysian Tail Far Cry 3 Fez FTL: Faster Than Light Gravity Rush Halo 4 Hero Academy Hotline Miami Journey Kid Icarus: Uprising Mark of the Ninja Mass Effect 3 PlanetSide 2 The Room Sound Shapes Spelunky Spec Ops: The Line Trials Evolution The Unfinished Swan Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward The Walking Dead XCOM: Enemy Unknown ZombiU In late...
Culture
12 CommentsFrench military says a soldier wearing a Call of Duty scarf is 'unacceptable'
By Tracey Lien on Jan 23, 2013 01.23.13
A spokesperson for the French military has said that a soldier behaved unacceptably by wearing a scarf around his face that bore a grinning skull reminiscent of the character Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley from Call of Duty, AFP reports. The soldier, whose identity is unknown, was photographed by AFP photographer Issouf Sanogo in central Mali where French troops are currently stationed. Sanogo describes the conditions the soldiers were in that led to the man donning the scarf: A helicopter was coming in to land and churning up tremendous dust clouds. Instinctively, all the soldiers grabbed their scarfs to avoid getting a mouthful of sand. It was evening, and rays of sunlight were pushing through the trees and into the dust clouds. It was a lovely light. I spotted this soldier...
Good Game
1 CommentThe evolution of Call of Duty Elite
By Brian Crecente on Jan 21, 2013 01.21.13
Last year, Call of Duty publisher Activision created a website to track that stat and other similar, almost alarming numbers live. Scrolling down the lengthy page exposes tickers of numbers that move so fast it's hard to keep up with the single digits. Instead, a curious reader has to rely on the hundreds, or the thousands, or the hundred thousands to settle on a single number long enough to think about what it might mean. These live global stats are the heartbeat of one of the most played video games in the world. They can be found on the official website for Call of Duty Elite, the series spanning service that tracks stats, improves gameplay and builds communities and competitions for the first-person shooter. Launched in the fall of 2011, Elite was conceived by Activision as a...
News
0 CommentsCall of Duty Online launches open beta in China, could change the country's FPS market
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 14, 2013 01.14.13
Call of Duty Online is now in open beta in China, and may bring with it significant changes to China's first-person shooter market, according to an interview with internet company NetEase's web editor Yin Jun on Kotaku. Call of Duty Online is a free-to-play title created in collaboration between Activision and Chinese developer Tencent and is similar to console Call of Duty titles, The ban on video game hardware in place since the early 2000s prevents Chinese consumers from gaining access to and playing the console versions. According to Yin, the current most popular modern-set FPS in China is another Tencent title and Call of Duty "clone," strategical shooter CrossFire. Yin calls CrossFire a "shooter for the masses" while Call of Duty caters to more "hardcore" gamers. Yin believes C...
Culture
3 CommentsTwo weapon-festooned ornaments from Treyarch
By Brian Crecente on Dec 25, 2012 12.25.12
Treyarch Studios, makers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, tweeted out their holiday well wishes this week along with a picture of two themed ornaments. "Happy holidays from the entire team at Treyarch! Stay safe and stay frosty," they wrote.
News
9 CommentsMajor League Gaming fills December with Rules of Engagement, tournaments and prize fights
By Tracey Lien on Dec 03, 2012 12.03.12
Major League Gaming is kicking off its December programming tonight with an hour-long StarCraft 2 Rules of Engagement show hosted by Nick "Axslav" Ranish, a StarCraft 2 Tournament of Champions between players DongRaeGu and Flash and the grand finals for the StarHawk GameBattles tournament. Every weeknight from now until Dec. 21, MLG will host programs and tournaments that run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Each evening will begin with a StarCraft 2 Rules of Engagement session with Axslav where he will teach and break down gameplay and mechanics for players both new and seasoned. After that there will be a mix of StarCraft 2, Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and League of Legends tournaments running each night, with some evenings dedicated to community play. The complete broadcast schedule...
Culture
25 CommentsWar vet shares insight on Call of Duty, FPS
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Nov 24, 2012 11.24.12
War tends to take on glorified traits in fiction, and games are no exception. As a nod to November's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 release, VentureBeat sat down with a veteran formerly deployed in Iraq for his thoughts on the series and other first-person shooters as a whole. Sergeant Dave Mull, who served a total of 12 years, explained that combat isn't as action-packed as games make it out to be. "Real combat isn't very exciting from a third-person perspective," Mull said. "You spend long periods of time bored out of your mind, and then, all of the sudden, someone is trying to kill you, and your adrenaline spikes through the roof, but you either can barely identify their postion or have little to no idea where it's coming from. And even up close, it's usually over very quickly without...
Deals
7 CommentsGameStop to open over 3,000 locations at midnight on Black Friday
By Dave Tach on Nov 19, 2012 11.19.12
GameStop will open over 3,000 locations at 12:01 a.m. on Black Friday with the "majority of the remaining stores" set to open at 5:00 a.m., according to a press release from the company. The video game retailer will be offering deals throughout the weekend, including an Xbox 360 console with The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Forza Motorsport 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for $249.99 and a PlayStation 3 bundle with Infamous, Infamous 2, Infamous: Festival of Blood, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for $199.97. You can check to see if your local GameStop is participating in the midnight opening event here.
