The music industry has never been averse to letting its lawyers do the talking, and today bring two more instances of lawsuits filed over the chaffing interface between the music industry and the digital world. Record label EMI is suing the online music distribution site BlueBeat.com for selling digital versions of Beatles’ music online without authorization, and rock-pop band No Doubt has filed suit against Activision for using their likenesses in their brand new Band Hero video game.
Tag Archive: Activision
Van Halen Might As Well Jump into Guitar Hero
News dribblets about Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise are falling with the regularity of a broken faucet: first the company announces three new games—including DJ Hero—then casually mentions it’s looking into developing a Guitar Hero reality television series or concert tour package. Now, Activision has more-or-less confirmed what most people in the gaming industry knew already: following on the heels of Guitar Hero: Metallica, Activision is working on Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
Van Halen was, of course, one of the largest arena rock and FM radio acts of the 1980’s, and (despite a long period of inactivity and ongoing personnel shifts) has maintained considerable popularity, most recently demonstrated by a 2008 concert tour with flamboyant frontman David Lee Roth again at center stage.
Scratch Fever: Activision Announces DJ Hero
Although games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are certainly popular, not everyone wants to sling a six-string or try to win points fake-shredding along to old fogey dinosaur rock. Darnit, some music has moved on from the 1950s tech of electric guitars: where’s the hip-hop, the modern r&b, the house, the electronica? Where’s the popping and scratching and the DJ with the turntables?
Activision Announces Franchise Updates
In recent months, game publisher Activision has been all about building its franchise juggernauts, announcing it would be killing off games series it didn’t think had to the potential to become long-running franchises in favor of long-running titles it can iterate (and sell) over and over again. At the same event where the company announced its Blizzard unit would start running ads from Microsoft subsidiary Massive, Activision also announced it plans additional sequels in its Guitar Hero,Call of Duty, and Tony Hawk franchises, even as it kills off formerly-touted titles like Ghostbusters and Chronicles of Riddick.
Hendrix Hits Guitar Hero
According to Gamespot, Activision has secured what might be the ultimate Guitar Hero score – it’s secured the right to a number of Hendrix master tracks for the forthcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour.
The first two cuts – “Purple Haze” and “Wind Cries Mary” will be made available for download after the game’s launch. The only time Hendrix has appeared in the game before was an instrumental cover of “Spanish Castle Magic.” Activision has also secured content from the Eagles and Van Halen.
Activision also announced that World Tour will be compatible not only with existing Guitar Hero instruments, but also those from Rock Band.
Guitar Hero World Tour to Add Drums, Voice
After months of fan speculation that the next iteration in the Guitar Hero franchise would offer a full band experience (ala Rock Band), Activision finally made it official on Thursday. Guitar Hero World Tour, to be released this fall, will add drums and voice to the musical experience, along with a slew of other new features.
All the new controllers, including a reworked guitar that Activision claims has been made even more responsive, will come wireless. The drum set will include three velocity-sensitive drum pads that supposedly deliver “authentic bounce,” two raised cymbals, and a bass kick pedal.
Game Goliaths Blizzard and Activision Merge
In what could easily be described as one of the most significant mergers to hit the video game industry, major developers Blizzard and Activision announced plans for a merger on Sunday. Blizzard’s French parent company, Vivendi, will swallow up Activision in a deal that will put some of the most popular modern games, including World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero, under one roof.
All pieces of the deal, including the values of both companies and cash contributed by each toward the deal, add up to $18.9 billion. Vivendi paid $27.50 per share for Activision, 24 percent more than it was trading for on Friday, to acquire a 52 percent stake in the company. Shares of the new company’s stock will trade on the Nasdaq for $27.50 per share.
Activision Scoops up UK Game Studio
Video game publisher Activision finally climbed behind the wheel with racing titles on Wednesday with its purchase of British developer Bizarre Creations, the crew behind the Project Gotham Racing series. Bizarre’s racing games will be among the first in Activision’s extensive portfolio.
Racing games represent 10 percent of the total gaming market and $1.4 billion in sales, and Bizarre is considered a leader in segment for the numerous awards the Project Gotham titles have raked in. Its non-racing titles include Geometry Wars and the upcoming The Club.
Activision Details Next-Gen Games
Activision today provided more details on its next generation console line-up for the upcoming Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii and already released Microsoft Xbox 360 platforms. All of these games promise to take advantage of these three machines’ next generation graphics for more a more realistic gaming experience.
Activision Revokes EA’s License to 007
Activision, MGM, and EON Productions Ltd. today announced that Activision has acquired the exclusive rights to develop and publish interactive games based on the James Bond franchise. The license extends through the year 2014; according to entertainment publication Variety, the deal is worth about $50 million.
The deal is a major shakeup: Bond games have been the exlcusive province of video game giant Electronic Arts since the company published its first Bond-based game in 1998, and EA’s license wasn’t set to expire until 2010. While EA’s BOn games were initially a financial success, speculation about the Activision deal fingers EA for not being able to come up with a gaming tie-in for Casino Royale, the next film in the Bond franchise scheduled to hit theaters November 30, 2006. EA’s failure reportedly cost MGM millions in licensing fees.
