While most of you slept, drama struck Infinity Ward, the creators of the Call of Duty series, with allegations of "insubordination" from publishers Activision and the rumoured departure of the studio's two top men. This post will be updated throughout the day.

The news first hit yesterday afternoon, when G4 reported that IW heads Vince Zampella and Jason West had met with Activision, after which neither were seen from again by staffers and "a bunch of bouncer-types" showed up outside Infinity Ward's offices.

The situation between the developer and publisher had been described as "tense" for some time.

Things got interesting a few hours later, when updates to Jason West's Linkedin page revealed that he had ceased employment at the developer.

And then got really interesting when an SEC filing from earlier in the day revealed that Activision had launched an investigation into some allegedly iffy conduct at Infinity Ward, including "insubordination" and "breaches of contract" that affected "two senior employees" at the studio.

Full Article here @ Kotaku
[Submitted by Pinkeye69]

UPDATE from Activision via a press release
It does seems like Activision are making a COD-specific business unit, much like Microsoft has 343 to handle Halo. Makes sense. In the last 2-3 years since Modern Warfare the COD userbase has exceeded the Halo userbase on xbox live usage.

Now available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft points, the “VIP Membership Car Pack” gives you exclusive access and visibility in the “Forza Motorsport” community. Besides the occasional bonus cars (gifts arrive in your FM3 in-game inbox) VIP members receive from Turn 10, you’ll gain special recognition on scoreboards, in multiplayer lobbies, on ForzaMotorsport.net, in the “Forza Motorsport 3” Storefront, and it places your VIP auctions at the top of the “Forza Motorsport 3” Auction House. VIP membership also includes these five must-have exclusive VIP Cars:

•2008 Aston Martin DBS
•2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
•2007 Ferrari F430 Scuderia
•2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
•2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997)
(IMPORTANT NOTE: VIP Membership is also available for FREE with an Xbox LIVE token included in new Limited Collector’s Edition copies of “Forza Motorsport 3.”)

For every purchase of the “VIP Membership Car Pack” during the month of March, Turn 10 pledges to donate $10 to Save the Children up to $100,000.

More details here @ Forzamotorsport.net

So does this dilute the limited edition copies of forza? well Turn10 never said VIP membership waws exclusive to the limited edition, and LE owners still have the 5 LE edition cars, keyring, and USB stick. And according to Turn 10 the LE editions only count for a very small percentage of forza owners
[Submitted by Pinkeye69]

Earlier this month at the X10 Media event, we announced the upcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade Block Party* promotion. Today we’re announcing additional promotion details and the release schedule1

March 3rd: Toy Soldiers -1200 points
March 10: Scrap Metal – 1200 points
March 17: Perfect Dark – 800 points
March 24: Game Room – Free to download. Individual games will cost 240 to 400 points

Plus: When you purchase all three Block Party titles and download the free Game Room app you’ll receive 400 Microsoft Points back to your account**! And if you’re an Xbox LIVE Gold Members you’ll also get an extra month of Gold absolutely free**!

Full details plus T&C here @ MajorNelson.com
[Submitted by Pinkeye69]

The children's charity started by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade fame, Child's Play, has broken the $1m barrier.

The incredibly generous fans of the top geek-culture site have gone all out buying gifts and donating money to various children's hospitals around the world.

This news surely cements the guys at PA as being the true ambassadors for the 'good' side of gaming.

Child's Play

Studio head, Mark Betteridge, has told the industry games magazine Games TM that if the popular Nintendo/Arcade classic beat-em-up were to return then they would have to bring something new to the genre. The article goes on to suggest that the studio has been investigating Natal beat-em-up mechanics.

More ...


The popular geek-culture site Penny Arcade turned 11 today. Great job guys.

Extract from the Playstation Blog
The latest update incorporates Facebook into the PS3 experience. By linking your PlayStation Network account to your Facebook account, you will have the option for the PS3 to automatically update your Facebook News Feed with Trophy and PlayStation Store activity.

Additional highlights from update 3.10 include:
The Photo category on the XMB has been revamped to make it easier to see more of your photos stored on the PS3.
The PSN Friends List has been modified based on feedback we received after update 3.00. Additionally, you can now choose a color for your PSN ID on the XMB.

[Submitted by Pinkeye69]

Extract from the BBC
The BBC iPlayer is relaunching on the Nintendo Wii in the form of a dedicated Wii channel on 18 November.

Only consoles with a broadband connection in the UK will be able to run the channel.

To get the service, Wii owners will be able to download it from the console's online shop for free.

The BBC iPlayer has been on the Wii since April 2008 but many console owners reported problems with the original interface.

[Submitted by Pinkeye69]

Just a reminder that the new xbox 360 dashboard featuers of Last.FM, Twitter, Facebook, and Zune HD marketplace go live today.

Extract form the press release:
Facebook*– Update your status to share what movie, game or entertainment you’re enjoying, connect with friends and view their Facebook stream, status updates and photos on the big screen – all seamlessly integrated and custom-built for Xbox 360. You can even compare your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on LIVE.

Zune – Zune video on Xbox LIVE offers a full fidelity experience with instant on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. No waiting for downloads or buffering, it’s there at the press of a button. You can also share the experience with up to seven friends through voice chat and Avatar integration on the TV screen – it puts a whole new spin on “movie night.”

Twitter*– Stay in the know by discovering, posting and replying to Tweets right on your Xbox 360. You can even view friend profiles, trends and conversations, or search to see who’s tweeting about your favorite game.

Last.fm* – Discover more music and explore endless personalized radio stations with Last.fm on Xbox 360. Skip, “ban” or “love” tracks to create your perfect mix—we’ve even built in “Gamer Stations” with game-related types of music selected specifically for the gaming community(Available in the U.S. and UK)

[Submitted by Pinkeye69]

The government organisation responsible for UK cyberdefence and, where necessary, cyberattack will begin full operations in March.

The Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC), which is based at the new building GCHQ in Cheltenham, will start operations on the 10th March, Labour peer Baroness Crawley revealed in a written parliamentary answer on Wednesday.

The speech goes on to say that they expect to recruit up to 19 staff who will be expected to understand the 'hacker mentality'. Whilst this would seem to suggest that they will hire from known hackers it would seem an unlikely move seeing as everyone hired would also need to pass the usual security clearance tests.

This probably means that, as per other government movements in this area, the hirees will be the usual so called anti-hacker security experts that are as much in touch with 'hacker mentalities' as a fresian cow is with brain surgery.