Fans set sights on first 'Call of Duty' convention (BLOG)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The inaugural "Call of Duty XP" convention more closely resembled Disneyland than an actual battleground as the two-day event celebrating the shoot-'em-up video game franchise took flight Friday at an old airfield in Los Angeles.

More than 6,000 fans lined up for game previews, real-world recreations of "Call of Duty" levels and facetime with developers at the first-ever gaming extravaganza.

"It kind of sucks to have to wait in lines, but I think we'll get a chance to do everything," said Daniel Gonzalez of Imperial County, Calif. Gonzalez, 18, said he was most looking forward to blasting zombies at one of the hundreds of gaming stations erected inside a mammoth hangar on the 12-acre compound where Howard Hughes built the Spruce Goose.

"Call of Duty" devotees joined snaking lines for everything from hands-on time with "Modern Warfare 3" to grilled hamburgers from an eatery resembling the game's fictitious Burger Town fast food chain. Attendees also waited anxiously for a chance to spar on paintball courses modeled after "Modern Warfare 2" levels and glide over the event on a zipline.

"It was perfect — not too fast and not scary," said Ray Usoro, who drove up with two friends from San Diego to attend "Call of Duty XP," after braving the zipline. Usoro, 27, said his $150 ticket to the event was worth it because it included a special edition of "Modern Warfare 3" and the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see 'Call of Duty' brought to life."

The sold-out event honoring the Activision Blizzard Inc. franchise kicked off Friday with the unveiling of the multiplayer mode of the upcoming "Modern Warfare 3." The developers promised a more balanced online experience, adding the ability to upgrade weapons, eliminating shotguns as secondary weapons and giving the infamous "killstreak" feature an overhaul.

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, said the game publisher organized the immersive event to thank hardcore fans and build hype for "Modern Warfare 3" and the new "Elite" online service. He said all proceeds from ticket sales would go to the Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit organization that Activision founded to assist military veterans.

A mention that Kanye West would be performing at the convention Saturday night by Robert Bowling, the creative strategist at "Modern Warfare" developer Infinity Ward, elicited several boos from the crowd. Hirshberg called the notoriously spontaneous rapper "one of greatest performers in the world" and said he wasn't fearful of any of West's antics.

"When you hire Kanye, you hire Kanye," said Hirshberg.

For those who can't attend "Call of Duty XP" but still want in on the action, Activision enlisted supermodel Marisa Miller to host streaming videos from the event. Miller, who will make her film debut in the upcoming supernatural thriller "R.I.P.D." with Jeff Bridges, said she's no stranger to "Call of Duty." Her father and husband are both die-hard players.

"The way we play is my husband will show me what's up in the specific map that we're going to play through and then he'll give me the controller, and I'll have a go at it," said Miller. "My husband is really intense about it. He's really good. I'm just the type of player who likes to sit behind the wall with my sniper rifle and pick people off that way."

For the past four years, the action-packed "Call of Duty" franchise has enjoyed unprecedented success. The latest title, "Black Ops," has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide since its launch last November, and more than seven million people play online every day. The upcoming globe-trotting "Modern Warfare 3" edition is scheduled for release Nov. 8.

Other activities at "Call of Duty XP" include sumo duels inside puffy suits resembling the game's "juggernaut" bomb diffusion uniforms, an armory showcasing gear and art from the "Call of Duty" franchise, a performance by the punk-rock band Dropkick Murphys, and several game tournaments, including matches pitting basketball players against U.S. soldiers.

Smartphone Video Games Promote Family Bonding (BLOG)

Parents who play smartphone video games such as "Angry Birds" and "Bejeweled Blitz" with their kids report that gaming has increased the quality of bonding within the family, a new study suggests.

A study conducted by video game maker PopCap and Goldsmiths, University of London, found that 1 in 3 parents who play video games with their kids said it’s brought them closer to their loved ones.

The study — which examined an online survey of 3,250 parents and grandparents with children and grandchildren under the age of 16 in the United Kingdom — looked at the role of "casual games," including simple puzzle or strategy games, and how it’s helped them relate to youth. PopCap said the margin of error is unknown.

One-third of respondents said they play video games with their children every day, and 80 percent of this group described it as a "quality time" activity within their family.

The study also revealed that the growth in casual smartphone games has helped kids as young as 2 becoming proficient in the use of smartphones and other tablet devices.

In fact, 1 in 5 parents (22 percent) said that playing computer games has helped their children develop a better understanding of technology. In addition, a quarter of parents (27 percent) reported that their children borrow their smartphone every day to play games.

Debunking the myth that playing video games comes at the cost of healthier activities, the study also noted that three-quarters of parents said their computer game-playing kids also exercise regularly and eat healthful foods.

A third of parents believe that their children are able to concentrate better, thanks to playing casual games, while 53 percent believe that their children have improved problem-solving skills, also because of playing casual games.

"The fact that both parents and grandparents are using games to connect with their children and grandchildren, and quite successfully, suggests that video games can improve social skills and make a key contribution to both effective parenting and child development," said Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, of the department of psychology at Goldsmiths.

Japanese retailers says sayonora to the Xbox 360 (BLOG)

(DigitalTRENDS)The land of the rising sun has been a forbidding and inhospitable place for Microsoft’s gaming console. Despite solid sales elsewhere around the world, the Xbox 360 never really caught on in Japan, and both Sony and Nintendo crushed the gaijin console. To put it in perspective, the Wii has sold 11.74 million units in Japan and the PS3 has sold 6.85–compared to the American totals for each system, those numbers might seem low, but they are sold for Japan. By comparison, the 360 has sold a meager 1.52 million units since 2005.

Hardware sales in general are struggling in Japan, but none so much as the 360. According to Next-gen.biz, Japan’s largest gaming store, Geo, has announced that it is the latest Japanese retailer to phase out the majority of its Xbox 360 items. Beginning immediately, the majority of its stores will sell off all current stock of hardware and software at deeply discounted prices. Xbox 360 products will still be available in select locations and online, but the majority of stock will soon hit the bargain bin.

But don’t go crying for Microsoft just yet. Even with the dismal Japanese sales, the 360 has seen a great deal of success around the world. It is far ahead of the PS3 in sales in the Americas—32.67 million to 20.39 million—and only trails Sony in Europe by a few million, a relatively small figure—24.74 million to 21.18 million.

The bigger issue is what happens in the next few years. Microsoft has always struggled in Japan, and with new consoles due out from both Microsoft and Sony within the next few years, it may be difficult for Microsoft to convince Japanese retailers to stock the next gen Microsoft system.

Last month Microsoft Japan recently formed the Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), which will focus exclusively on the Xbox 360 and its replacement. So despite losing the support of many Japanese retailers, Microsoft seems to have no plans to surrender the Japanese market just yet.

Sony cuts price of PlayStation 3 by $50 to $249 (BLOG)

NEW YORK (AP) — Sony Corp. is cutting the price of its PlayStation 3 gaming console by $50 in an attempt to drum up demand for the 5-year-old machine.

It is now $249, down 17 percent from $299. The last time Sony lowered the price of the PlayStation 3 was in 2009, when it launched a lighter, slimmer model of the video game system.

The worldwide price cut announced Tuesday comes less than a month after rival Nintendo Co. cut the price of its handheld Nintendo 3DS player.

The 3DS lets players view 3-D games and videos without special glasses. It launched with much fanfare but lost sales momentum. The value of 3-D hasn't been apparent to everyone. Handheld gaming devices are also facing competition from the iPhone and other smartphones with games such as the wildly popular "Angry Birds."

The latest price cut should give the PlayStation 3 a boost, just as the previous one did in 2009.

"It is no secret that the PlayStation 3 has been struggling for some time against the Microsoft Xbox 360 in North America," though it did slightly better in Europe, said Jesse Divnich, an analyst at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research.

Divnich does not believe Microsoft Corp. will follow with its own price cut immediately. Rather, the maker of the Xbox 360 "will likely wait to see the commercial impact of the price disparity" between the Xbox and the PlayStation. The Xbox 360's popular 250 gigabyte version costs $300. A version with a smaller hard drive, 4 gigabytes, is $200.

Microsoft said it does not talk about pricing plans in advance and so far it has made no announcements about price cuts.

In all, Microsoft has sold 55 million Xbox 360s worldwide, and Sony has sold 52 million units of the PS3. Nintendo is still No. 1 with 86 million, though sales of the console have slowed down considerably.

Sony is also launching its handheld PlayStation Vita in the U.S. early next year. It will cost $249 for a Wi-Fi only version and $299 for a version that will also have cellphone service.

Jack Tretton, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said Sony is cutting the price in August instead of closer to the holidays to get it to people during the back-to-school shopping season. While the holidays are the busiest time for video games, August and September are also lucrative as college students stock up on games for their dorm rooms.

'Exergaming' Better for Kids Than Walking?! (Blog)

Kids and video games might not be all that bad, says a new study. That is, if they're the right kind of video games.

Games that require players to physically move and interact, such as Dance Dance Revolution and Nintendo Wii's Boxing, can lead to "a high level of energy expenditure," according to a study released online today in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City and the University of Massachusetts in Boston tested six active video games with 39 boys and girls. Playing these so-called "exergames" for 10 minutes produced a workout that, depending on the game, nearly equaled or greatly exceeded that produced by spending an equal amount of time walking three miles an hour on a treadmill. What's more, overweight kids and those at-risk of becoming overweight enjoyed exergaming more than children who weren't overweight.

(To determine if you or your child is overweight, use our BMI calculator.)

The study seems to match what Consumer Reports previously found: that the latest video-game systems such as Microsoft Kinect and Sony Move are intuitive enough that consumers of nearly any age or game-playing experience can enjoy. (See our video-game system buying advice for help on determining which video game console may be right for your needs.)

Still, the researchers note that while exergaming might be a positive tool for helping kids stay more active, video games aren't a quick fix for curing childhood obesity. Further studies examining how exergaming directly compares to other physical activities need to be done, say other researchers.

In an hour, a 100-pound person walking at 3 mph will burn 223 calories. Here are how many calories a person of the same weight will burn playing five active video games:

Wii Boxing: 191

Dance Dance Revolution: 245

Cybex Trazer: 268

Light space: 291

Xavix: 318

Sportwall: 323

Dont Mod Your XBOX!: XBOX Modder Could Spend 3 Years in Prison (BLOG)

Things aren't looking good for a university student accused of modifying video game consoles.

Opening statements were scheduled to begin Wednesday in the federal criminal trial of 28-year-old Matthew Crippen, a student at California State University Fullerton.

Homeland Security authorities arrested Crippen last year on accusations that he violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). He is accused of modifying Xbox 360 game consoles for money so the machines could play pirated games and other content.

This is the first time a federal prosecution for console-modding has reached a jury trial. A conviction could land Crippen in prison for up to three years.

A six-woman, six-man jury was selected Tuesday to decide the case. According to Wired, only a few of those panelists said they owned an Xbox or played video games.

The prosecution is expected to bring in witnesses including a Microsoft security expert and the undercover agents Crippen allegedly modded consoles for. He apparently charged between $60 and $80 for his services.

In an interview with Wired, Crippen said he tweaked the consoles not for illegal piracy purposes but to let gamers use decrypted copies of their own gaming software, suggesting that because the Xbox 360 has been known to scratch discs players might need to use a backup copy.

Needless to say, authorities weren't buying that argument.

Things got even more bleak for Crippen and his defense team last week when the judge ruled they could not use the "fair use" defense. Crippen's attorneys had hoped to argue that installing a mod chip in a gaming console was no different than jailbreaking an iPhone to allow owners to use software not approved by Apple. iPhone jailbreaking was OKed under a DMCA exception approved by the U.S. Copyright Office.

Microsoft and other game companies certainly get prickly when users start tinkering with their products. After all, piracy is an enormous issue for the video game industry. In fact, Microsoft had initially issued warnings against tinkerers planning to alter their new Kinect sensor device.

The company, however, backed off those threats as it became clear most modders were altering the new game device to create some pretty cool (read: non piracy-related) innovations.

The take-away message here: Totally cool if you want to tweak our equipment so you candance around in women's bras. Totally not cool if you want to tweak our equipment to play pirated games.

Story By: Wenda Benedetti

WELL DAMN!: GAMER PAID $15,000 TO PLAY ON A 820-FT SCREEN!! (VIDEO)

This is the life right here! Paid to play video games?!? One gamer wasn't satisfied with a 60-inch plasma at home so he took to the next best thing: an 820-feet long display. What game did he want to play? Apparently some World of Warcraft knock-off called Magic World Online 2. Watch the vid:

It's reported that the man of the hour paid up to $15,000 to earn the privilege of slashing his foes on the ginormous display. The LED display in question is located in Beijing, China and is usually used to display a virtual aquarium filled with virtual sharks and fishies, video feeds from live events and allow visitors to share photos by uploading them.


Must be nice. Wouldn't you love to get paid to play?

Kobe Wrong For Call of Duty Commercial? {VIDEO, BLOG}

Seems like Kobe Bryant can't "Buy a Bucket"

Story Taken From: BUSINESS INSIDER

In the TV advertisement for the newest Call of Duty video game, Kobe Bryant totes an assault rifle as part of the game's "There's a soldier in all of us" marketing campaign.

It's a clever advertisement (see below) that depicts celebrities and everyday people navigating a battle ground with comically potent weapons.

But the media – sports and tech alike – have taken the fun out of the commercial. Pundits bash Activision for marginalizing actual American troops, disparage the company for bringing violent weaponry too close to reality, and derail Kobe Bryant for sending the wrong message to his adoring fans.

Lighten up.

The campaign's sole intent is to emphasize Call of Duty's wide appeal. And if the humor behind the advertisement isn't immediately clear, wait for the last scene when a fast-food chef makes like Rambo and single-handedly takes down an entire battleground.

It wouldn't simply be a stretch to say the ad promotes violence – it would be absolutely foolish. If anything, the message is the opposite. The ad implies that because we can't do this in real life, it's great to be able to do it in a game. After all, as forms of entertainment go, video games are the ultimate escapism. That's why first-person-shooter video games are among the most popular games of all time.

And the biggest consumers of said video games are teenagers. Much of that demographic can only afford to purchase the $60 titles on their parents' dime – the same parents likely causing the uproar over the advertisement in the first place. 

Perhaps in an ideal world, we wouldn't be so fascinated by violent video games. But as Jay-Z, HBO, and Quentin Tarantino have shown us, violence is an undeniable part of our entertainment culture. And as entertainers themselves, it should not be considered taboo for an athlete to endorse a video game.

Here's the ad:

Read more: FULL STORY

MICROSOFT GETS MONEY WITH XBOX KINECT! $1MIL. TO BE EXACT!!!

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it has sold more than 1 million of its new hands-free Kinect gaming systems in the first 10 days since launch, putting it on track to beat its target of 5 million sales by the end of the year.

The world's largest software company is hoping the Kinect will help revitalize sales of its Xbox game console this holiday shopping season and counter competing motion-based gaming systems from Nintendo Co, which makes the Wii, and Sony Corp, which introduced its Move product two months ago.

"It's a strong start," said Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft's game unit, in a telephone interview on Monday. "Consumers are loving it."

The Kinect, a sensing device you plug into the Xbox which allows you to play games just by moving your body and speaking commands, is priced at $150 for a standalone unit and $300 bundled with a 4 gigabyte Xbox console.

What recession?!? Get Money Microsoft.

Guitar Hero Hero