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No Doubt Sues Activision Over Avatars in "Band Hero"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 11:13am.
Los Angeles - The rock band No Doubt has filed a lawsuit against "Band Hero" video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI), alleging the company overstepped the permission granted by the band to include their likenesses within the game, Reuters reported. According to the lawsuit, the band did authorize its likenesses to be used to create avatars to perform its own songs within the game, but did not authorize the No Doubt avatars to perform songs by other bands.
tags: Games | Law | Lawsuits | Music | Activision | Band Hero | No Doubt |

Report: U.S. Game Sales Up 1%; Sony PS3 Leads for First Time

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 20, 2009 - 7:43am.
Port Washington, N.Y. - Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 for the first time ever led U.S. video game sales in September, which on the whole rose 1% from a year ago after several months of  decline, according to sales figures compiled by market research firm NPD Group. Overall sales were $1.28 billion in September; despite Sony's success, game hardware sales fell 6% from a year ago, to $472 million.
tags: Games | Sony | Reports | Microsoft | Nintendo | Activision | Xbox 360 | Wii | Retail | Electronic Arts | PlayStation 3 | Research | NPD Group |

Reports: Activision Makes Layoffs, Closes Shaba Studios

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 9, 2009 - 9:00am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Vivendi-owned video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) has laid off an estimated 30 employees from its 7 Studios unit, and shuttered its Shaba Games studio in San Francisco, resulting in another 30 layoffs, according to reports from Kotaku and PaidContent.
tags: Games | Activision | Layoffs | Vivendi | 7%% | Shaba Games |

Activision: "Guitar Hero" Players Have Uploaded 250K Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 21, 2009 - 12:25pm.
London - Activision's Michael Sportouch says the company has seen players of "Guitar Hero: World Tour" upload 250,000 unique songs created using the game's music studio feature to its servers, GamesIndustry.biz reported. These cover songs have subsequently been downloaded over 17 million times by other players, Sportouch added.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | Guitar Hero | User-Generated |

Nirvana Members Upset with Use of Cobain in "Guitar Hero"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 11, 2009 - 9:53am.
Los Angeles - The surviving members of Nirvana this week voiced their displeasure at how Activision (NASD: ATVI) is integrating an avatar of the late Kurt Cobain into its "Guitar Hero 5" music video game, Billboard reported. "While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character," they said. "This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future." For its part, Activision said it secured the necessary rights in the form of a written agreement with Cobain's widow, Courtney Love. For her part, Love also decried the use of Cobain's image in the game via her Twitter account, and intends to sue Activision, MTV Multiplayer reports.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | Guitar Hero 5 | Nirvana | Kurt Cobain | Courtney Love |

Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Down 23% in May to $863M

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 12, 2009 - 7:44am.
Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. spending on video games dropped 23% in May, to $863 million, marking the third straight month of decline and the first month since August 2007 that total sales did not top $1 billion, according to data from market research firm NPD Group. Hardware sales fell 30%, to $303 million. The Nintendo DS led all sales with 633,500 units, followed by the Wii (289,500 units); Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) Xbox (175,000); Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 (131,000), PlayStation 2 (117,000) and PSP (100,400).
tags: Games | Sony | Reports | Microsoft | Nintendo | THQ | Activision | Retail | Electronic Arts | Research |

Jay-Z, Eminem to Feature in Special Edition of "DJ Hero" Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 5, 2009 - 10:51am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) said this week that it will release a special branded edition of its forthcoming "DJ Hero" turntable-based music game featuring hip-hop artists Jay-Z and Eminem, who performed together onstage at an Activision party this week at E3 in Los Angeles. The special edition will include an advanced version of the game's turntable controller, a metal traveling case, and two exclusive music CD compilations featuring greatest hits and new mixes from each artist. Jay-Z and Eminem have also committed to providing fresh downloadable mixes for the game later this year.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | Eminem | Jay-Z | DJ Hero |

Activision Details Skateboard Controller for "Tony Hawk: RIDE"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2009 - 1:21pm.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision (NASD: ATVI) said on Monday that it will introduce a new motion-sensing skateboard controller accessory for its forthcoming "Tony Hawk: RIDE" game. The title is in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii for release later this year.

tags: Games | Activision | Tony Hawk: RIDE |

Activision Signs Voice Talent for "Transformers" Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 15, 2009 - 8:52am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision said on Friday that it has signed actors including Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox to provide voice talent for the upcoming game adaptation of the upcoming film sequel, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." The game is currently in development at Luxoflux, Beenox, Krome, Vicarious Visions and Savage Entertainment for a range of platforms.

tags: Games | Movies | Activision | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen |

"Scratch DJ" Game Developers Win Injunction Against Activision

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 8, 2009 - 7:49am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - A judge has issued a preliminary injunction against Activision's (NASD: ATVI) 7 Studios, and ordered the game studio to turn over all source code related to "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ" game to Scratch DJ Game LLC, a joint venture between Genius Products and audio equipment maker Numark Industries.
tags: Games | Law | Lawsuits | Music | Activision | Genius Products | Scratch: The Ultimate DJ | Numark Industries |

Activision Details New "DJ Hero," "Band Hero" Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 7, 2009 - 12:39pm.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) on Thursday announced its upcoming fall slate of music-based games, which will include "Guitar Hero 5," and the new titles "DJ Hero" and "Band Hero." The DJ game centers more on hip-hop and dance music, and features a new turntable controller, while "Band Hero" is a more family-friendly version of the game.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | Guitar Hero | DJ Hero |

Report: Activision to Feature Van Halen in Next "Guitar Hero"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 28, 2009 - 12:31pm.
Los Angeles - The next band to receive its own branded edition of Activision's (NASD: ATVI) "Guitar Hero" game will be Van Halen, Kotaku reports, citing a pre-order listing for the title on retailer GameStop's website. According to the ad, the game is slated for release on July 28 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 2. Activision has already released special editions of the game featuring Aerosmith and Metallica.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | Guitar Hero | Van Halen |

"Scratch DJ" Game Developers Win Ruling Against Activision

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 21, 2009 - 8:55am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - The developers of a competing hip-hop DJ music video game have won a temporary restraining order against game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI), which was ordered by a court to turn over source code related to the video game "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ."
tags: Games | Law | Lawsuits | Activision | 7%% | Genius Products | Numark | Scratch DJ Games LLC |

Activision Sued Over Contract for "Scratch DJ" Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2009 - 8:28am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) and developer 7 Studios have been sued for intentional interference with contract, breach of contract, and conversion and misappropriation of trade secrets related to the development of a hip-hop music-themed game called "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ."
tags: Games | Law | Lawsuits | Music | Activision | 7%% | DJ Hero | Genius Products | Numark | Scratch: The Ultimate DJ |

New Downloadable Songs Coming to "Guitar Hero," "Rock Band"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 24, 2009 - 12:48pm.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publishers Activision (NASD: ATVI) and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Harmonix on Tuesday announced that they are making available new tracks for download and use with their "Guitar Hero World Tour" and ""Rock Band" games, respectively. Activision will add new tracks from the Pixies, Silversun Pickups, Nirvana, Motorhead and Steely Dan, including two tracks from Silversun Pickups' forthcoming album, and new re-recorded versions of several songs from Motorhead. Harmonix's "Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock" will include 20 songs, from artists including Boston, The Who, Steve Miller Band and the Dead Kennedys.

tags: Games | Music | Viacom | Activision | Guitar Hero | Rock Band |

Activision Names Rosensweig CEO of "Guitar Hero" Unit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 23, 2009 - 12:51pm.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) announced on Monday that it has named Dan Rosensweig as president and CEO of RedOctane, its unit that develops the popular "Guitar Hero" franchise. Rosensweig previously has served as COO of Yahoo, and before that was president of publisher Ziff Davis.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | Dan Rosensweig |

Worlds.com to Sue Activision if Virtual World Patent Upheld

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2009 - 9:58am.
New York - Worlds.com, a developer of virtual worlds and holder of various patents on related technologies, said it plans to filed patent claims against "World of Warcraft" publisher Activision Blizzard (NASD: ATVI) and "Second Life" creator Linden Labs, should it succeed in a current case against NCsoft, Silicon Alley Insider reported.
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Linden Lab | Patents | Activision | Second Life | World of Warcraft | Virtual Worlds | Worlds.com | Thom Kidrin |

Judge Tosses Patent Suit Against "Guitar Hero" Maker Activision

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 3, 2009 - 10:24am.
Los Angeles - A judge has dismissed the patent infringement lawsuit brought by guitar maker Gibson against Activision (NASD: ATVI), publisher of the "Guitar Hero" music video game franchise, GameDaily reported.
tags: Games | Law | Lawsuits | Music | Patents | Activision | Gibson | Guitar Hero |

MTV's "Rock Band" to Expand Catalog to 5,000 Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2009 - 8:54am.

Denver - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Networks hopes to expand the 500-song catalog available for its "Rock Band" music game franchise to as many as 5,000 by year's end, Billboard reports. By contrast, Activision's (NASD: ATVI) "Guitar Hero" currently offers fewer than 100 songs, but publisher Red Octane told Billboard that weekly music additions are planned this year. The latest version of Guitar Hero sold twice as many copies as Rock Band 2 last year, according to NPD data.

tags: Games | Music | Viacom | Activision | MTV Networks | Rock Band |

"Guitar Hero: World Tour" Outsold "Rock Band 2" 2-to-1 in 2008

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 27, 2009 - 2:03pm.

London - Activision's (NASD: ATVI) "Guitar Hero: World Tour" sold 3.4 million copies in the U.S. last year, or twice as many as MTV Networks' (NYSE: VIA) "Rock Band 2," which moved 1.7 million units, GameSpot reported, citing new data from market research firm NPD Group. The report notes that "Rock Band 2" did not become available for the PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii until shortly before the holidays.

tags: Games | Music | Activision | MTV Networks | Rock Band 2 | Guitar Hero: World Tour |
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