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Tag: Activision

  • UK Regulators Say Microsoft/Activision Deal Could Hurt Gamers

    UK Regulators Say Microsoft/Activision Deal Could Hurt Gamers

    The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has weighed in on Microsoft’s proposed Activision purchase, saying the deal could hurt gamers.

    Microsoft announced its intention to purchase Activision Blizzard for some $69 billion. The deal met hurdles and criticism almost immediately, with regulators and competitors claiming the deal could hurt the gaming market, as well as the overall PC market.

    The CMA has been investigating the deal for months, upgrading its investigation from Phase 1 to Phase 2 after discovering reasons for concern. The CMA has now concluded that the deal would negatively impact gamers and the gaming market.

    The CMA provisionally found that being able to offer popular games will be important for cloud gaming providers to attract users as the market continues to grow and develop. The evidence available to the CMA currently indicates that Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service (or only available on other services under materially worse conditions). Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and also has other important strengths in cloud gaming from owning Xbox, the leading PC operating system (Windows) and a global cloud computing infrastructure (Azure and Xbox Cloud Gaming).

    The CMA provisionally found that buying one of the world’s most important game publishers would reinforce this strong position and substantially reduce the competition that Microsoft would otherwise face in the cloud gaming market in the UK. This could alter the future of gaming, potentially harming UK gamers, particularly those who cannot afford or do not want to buy an expensive gaming console or gaming PC.

    The CMA’s findings are just the latest challenge Microsoft is facing in its efforts to close the deal. The EU is challenging the deal and the FTC has sued to block it.

    Given this latest setback, the chances of Microsoft completing its acquisition are looking increasingly slim.

  • EU Poised to Give Microsoft Antitrust Warning Over Activision Deal

    EU Poised to Give Microsoft Antitrust Warning Over Activision Deal

    Microsoft’s troubles with its Activision Blizzard deal are about to get worse, with the EU poised to give the company an antitrust warning.

    According to Reuters, the European Commission is preparing to serve Microsoft an antitrust warning over concerns about its effort to purchase Activision. Microsoft announced plans to purchase the game studio in January 2022, a deal worth $68.7 billion.

    Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have expressed concerns that Microsoft could use Activision to further its position in the PC gaming market, as well as the broader PC market. The UK has launched a challenge to the deal and the FTC has sued to block it.

    Microsoft has evidently been open to remedies in an effort to win EU approval, but Reuters reports that the EU is not open to discussing remedies until after it delivers its charge sheet in the coming weeks.

    In the meantime, Microsoft remains hopeful it can satisfy concerns and move forward with the deal.

    “We’re continuing to work with the European Commission to address any marketplace concerns,” the company says. “Our goal is to bring more games to more people, and this deal will further that goal.”

  • Microsoft CEO ‘Very, Very Confident’ Activision Deal Will Go Through

    Microsoft CEO ‘Very, Very Confident’ Activision Deal Will Go Through

    Despite increasing regulatory scrutiny, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is “very, very confident” its Activision purchase will be approved.

    Microsoft announced a deal in January to purchase Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion, making it the biggest tech acquisition in history. The deal has come under intense scrutiny in both the US and the UK.

    In spite of the potential challenges, Nadella believes Microsoft will ultimately close the deal.

    “Of course, any acquisition of this size will go through scrutiny, but we feel very, very confident that we’ll come out,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

    Nadella is also confident Microsoft will be able to weather the current economic challenges, as well as help its customers to do the same. Nadella believes the company’s software is the key to achieving that.

    “The constraints are real—inflation is definitely all around us,” he said. “I always go back to the point that in an uncertain time, in an inflationary time, software is the deflationary force.”

  • UK’s Competition Authority Challenges Microsoft’s Activision Deal

    UK’s Competition Authority Challenges Microsoft’s Activision Deal

    Microsoft’s plans to purchase Activision Blizzard are facing pushback, with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) challenging the deal.

    Microsoft announced its plans to purchase Activision Blizzard in early January for a whopping $68.7 billion, making it one of the biggest tech deals in history. Microsoft has been purchasing game studios as a way to help it compete in the burgeoning metaverse. Since Microsoft is one of the top three console makers, however, the CMA has concerns the purchase could harm competition and consumers, concerns it outlined in a press release:

    The CMA has also received evidence about the potential impact of combining Activision Blizzard with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem. Microsoft already has a leading gaming console (Xbox), a leading cloud platform (Azure), and the leading PC operating system (Windows OS), all of which could be important to its success in cloud gaming. The CMA is concerned that Microsoft could leverage Activision Blizzard’s games together with Microsoft’s strength across console, cloud, and PC operating systems to damage competition in the nascent market for cloud gaming services.

    The CMA’s investigation has been a Phase 1 investigation until now. After discovering valid reasons for concern, the investigation will move to Phase 2:

    At Phase 2, the CMA appoints an independent panel to examine the deal in more depth and evaluate whether it is more likely than not that a substantial lessening of competition will occur as a result of the merger – a higher threshold than Phase 1. It typically builds on the work and evidence from Phase 1 with more third-party engagement via requests for information and use of its statutory powers in gathering internal documents. At Phase 2, the CMA will also carry out further in-depth review of the merging parties’ internal documents which show how they view competition and the market.

    The CMA first announced its investigation in early July, just weeks after US senators asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to more thoroughly investigate the proposed merger, building on a review the FTC announced in February.

    Legislators and regulators around the world have been cracking down on Big Tech acquisitions and mergers. If the US or the UK torpedo the Microsoft/Activision deal, it will send a clear signal to tech companies about the current state of affairs.

  • UK Launches Competition Probe of Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition

    UK Launches Competition Probe of Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition

    The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a probe into Microsoft’s plans to purchase Activision Blizzard.

    Microsoft made headlines in January 2022 when it announced a deal to purchase the video game company for $68.7 billion. Needless to say, a deal of that size was sure to draw regulatory scrutiny, and it certainly has. The FTC launched a review of the deal, US senators asked the FTC to investigate further, and now the CMA has launched its own probe of the deal.

    The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction, if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and, if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.

    CEO Satya Nadella originally framed the deal in the context of Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to further metaverse development and the role games will play in that future. Like Apple, Meta, Google, and others, Microsoft is working to help develop the metaverse and ensure it is a major player moving forward.

    It remains to be seen if the CMA will challenge the acquisition. The agency has previously blocked major acquisitions, including Meta’s purchase of Giphy.

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts” Gets Snoop Dogg’s Voice

    On the surface, the Call of Duty franchise is a very serious military shooter series that focuses on intense multiplayer competition. Fans of the series, however, will know just how silly the franchise has become in recent years. The Zombies mode in Black Ops games has become progressively sillier since its debut and even Call of Duty: Ghosts now has some rather out-of-place cameos. The first Ghosts DLC pack included a Halloween-inspired Michael Myers skin for players and the latest DLC includes a similar Predator-themed skin.

    Today Activision announced that Call of Duty: Ghosts will be taking the series to a new level of silliness. The publisher has revealed that Snoop Dogg himself will be lending his voice to Ghosts.

    As part of Call of Duty: Ghost‘s new “Voice Packs” DLC add-on content players will soon be able to put Snoop Dogg’s voice into their game. The voice pack will bring Snoop Dogg’s voice to narrate ongoing multiplayer action, call in killstreaks, and announce other in-game events.

    The voice pack was previewed in a video released today on the Call of Duty YouTube channel. Snoop Dogg’s quips include phrases such as “Squad member active, a brother from another mother,” and “Don’t stop, cap ’em and shank ’em.”

    The Snoop Dogg voice pack is part of a larger list of “Personalization Packs” add-on that will be released via Xbox Live on April 22. The add-ons will also come to PlayStation consoles and PC at a later date. The Snoop Dogg voice pack will cost $3.

    In addition to Snoop Dogg’s voice another add-on will be a drill instructor voice pack voiced by R. Lee Ermey.

    The list of upcoming add-ons also includes the “Soap Legend Pack” (includes Captain John “Soap” MacTavish personalizations), the “Classic Ghost Pack” (includes the Ghost mask), the “Squad Pack for Extinction mode (includes heads and uniforms for characters), and six new weapon customization packs.

  • ‘Hearthstone’ Now on iPad in Canada, Australia

    The April Fools’ Day gags are over and Blizzard is now returning to business. The developer today announced that Hearthstone has been officially released for iPad – but only in certain territories.

    The game is currently available on iPad only in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Blizzard explains this limited release as something of a beta test. Hearthstone fans in those countries will help the developer “make sure [the game is] awesome” before it rolls out across the world. Blizzard does promise, though, that fans in other territories won’t have much longer to wait to get their hands on the mobile version.

    Hearthstone is Blizzard’s attempt at a fully-digital collectible card game. It is Warcraft-branded, featuring villains, heroes, enemies, and other characters from the popular World of Warcraft MMO. The game is free-to-play and features microtransactions that players can use to purchase card packs and entries into Arena mode.

    The PC version of Hearthstone was widely tested in beta form during 2013 and was released in its final form just last month.

    The game itself features mechanics similar to the popular Magic: The Gathering collectible card game, but with a few differences. Hearthstone is tuned for faster-paced gameplay and more direct player confrontation that is emphasized by the game’s animations.

    As anyone who has played Hearthstone will know, the game was quite obviously designed with mobile platforms in mind. The game is played on PC using only a mouse and the cards, numbers, and buttons are all large – design decisions that will translate well to tablets.

    The iPad version functions almost identically to the version players have gotten used to on PC. All modes, including ranked games and Arena are available in Hearthstone for iPad. The mobile version also syncs with other versions of the game, allowing players to pick up where they left off on whatever device they choose, complete with their full collection of cards. The iPad version is still free-to-play with the option to buy card packs or Arena sessions.

  • New ‘Diablo III’ Class Previewed, With Trailer

    The first expansion for Diablo III, Reaper of Souls, is now less than two weeks from release. Already the add-on has had a significant impact on the game with patches overhauling Diablo III‘s loot system.

    Another important change coming with Reaper of Souls is the addition of the new Crusader class. Blizzard this week revealed a bit more about the Crusader and its abilities in a new video preview. The class is depicted as very melee-focesed with tank-like abilities and sacred buffs for co-op gameplay.

    The narrated trailer explains that Crusaders are defenders of Zakarum faith in Diablo lore. The characters are partial to heavy weapons and even heavier armor. The cursaders’ beliefs tie-in significantly with the story of Reaper of Souls, which sees the Black Soulstone stolen by former Archangel Malthael.

  • ‘Hearthstone’ is Officially Out of Beta

    ‘Hearthstone’ is Officially Out of Beta

    Just hours after issuing the latest patch for Hearthstone, Blizzard announced that its online collectible card game (CCG) is officially out of beta in the U.S.

    Hearthstone is a free-to-play card game similar (but different in significant ways) from popular CCG Magic: The Gathering. Players take turns drawing cards from their pre-built decks and playing cards onto a field where the creatures on those cards battle it out for victory. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that and exceptional players have shown that the microtransactions built into Hearthstone are not needed for even top-tier Hearthstone players.

    For a game that has become consistently popular on game streaming site Twitch the switch from beta to full release was greeted with surprisingly little fanfare. Blizzard’s announcement thanked beta participants for their feedback and invited even more players to try out the game. As Hearthstone is styled after the locations, heroes, and enemies of the Warcraft series, the developer is also offering World of Warcraft players an epic flying mount called the “Hearthsteed” to use in the MMO after they play a few Hearthstone matches.

    The final Hearthstone beta patch was also relatively demure, making some final slight tweaks to the game before its release. The most important new features added include new golden hero portraits awarded for playing 500 ranked games, new card backs for participating in ranked play, and a system to separate previously high- and low-ranked players at the start of new ranked play seasons. Two highly-used legendary-level cards were also altered (“nerfed,” in gaming parlance) to make them less essential in ranked play.

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Devastation DLC Previewed

    Activision and Infinity Ward today revealed the content coming in the next Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC. As with previous Ghosts map packs, the new “Devastation” DLC will contain four new multiplayer maps, another chapter for the “Extinction” co-op mode, and a new powerful weapon.

    The four maps will be titled “Ruins,” “Collision,” “Behemoth,” and “Unearthed.” All of them are small or medium sized. Ruins will put players into a Mayan temple on top of a mountain, Collision takes place on a wrecked container ship lodged underneath a New York bridge, Behemoth features gameplay on a South American excavation platform, and Unearthed is a “reimagined” version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3‘s “Dome” map set in an alien artifact dig site that contains a secret alien weapon.

    The second episode of Ghosts‘ Extinction mode is titled “Mayday.” Players will band together to investigate a “Chinese research vessel” left adrift on the Tasman Sea. Cryptids and plot twists will be waiting inside, including the new “Seeder” Cryptid type and a massive (100-foot tall) Cryptid known as the “Kraken.”

    The new weapon coming with Devastation is called the “Ripper.” The gun is an SMG/Assault Rifle that can be switched between those modes on the fly.

    All of these features are previewed in the new Devastation trailer released today:

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Extinction DLC Previewed

    The launch of the first DLC expansion for Call of Duty: Ghosts is less than a week away and Activision is now revealing just how it has spent the marketing budget for the game.

    Today’s latest trailer delves into the new Extinction mode content coming in the Ghosts “Onslaught” DLC next week. The content will be the first in a planned four-episode story arc meant to reveal the origins of the alien menace that players fight in the new mode.

    Players will fight larger creatures than ever at a mysterious “Nightfall Program” research station in the snowy middle of nowhere (Alaska). Waves of alien enemies will have to be mowed down by players, including one that Activision claims is three stories tall. Two new characters will be introduced as part of the content and a new weapon will help players blast their way through the hordes.

    Presumably, all of these new features can be discovered by players at their leisure during their next “CODnapping” session.

  • New ‘Call of Duty’ DLC Trailer Makes “CODnapping” a Thing

    Activision is well-known for creating live-action trailers for its Call of Duty series, and Call of Duty: Ghosts has been no exception. Megan Fox and other celebrities have starred in ad for the latest Call of Duty game, and today the first live-action trailer for Ghosts‘ “Onslaught” DLC has been released.

    Like the “Replacers” ads seen for Black Ops II DLC, the theme of the new Ghosts live-action trailer is just how much time Call of Duty players could play Call of Duty multiplayer if they could ditch all of those mundane responsibilities such as work and family time. Instead of getting someone to fill in, however, this year’s catch is that a group of elite soldiers can be hired to stage a high-profile kidnapping for Call of Duty players. The players can then enjoy their Call of Duty in peace before later being returned to their grateful families.

    The long ad stars Stephen Graham of Snatch and Boardwalk Empire fame as the leader of this “CODnapping” enterprise. The kidnapping scenarios seen in the video are quite creative and demonstrate just how much money Activision is willing to throw behind the marketing for Call of Duty.

  • First ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ DLC Pack Announced

    Activision and Infinity Ward today officially announced the first DLC pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Titled “Onslaught,” the content is the first of four DLC packs that will be coming for the latest Call of Duty title this year.

    Microsoft has maintained its timed exclusivity agreement with Activision for Ghosts, and Onslaught will be coming first to Xbox One and Xbox 360 starting January 28.

    The highlight of the Onslaught DLC is the four new competitive multiplayer maps that it introduces: Fog, BayView, Containment, and Ignition.

    Fog is a smaller map styled to evoke horror movies. Players who complete a “field order” can even step into the shoes of classic horror villain Michael Myers, complete with Halloween movie music.

    BayView is another smaller map set on a Californian boardwalk. Players will have to dodge artillery strikes from the Destroyer ships waiting out in the water.

    Containment puts players into a small Mexican village and features multi-level gameplay and a map split by a dried-up riverbed.

    Ignition is the map that has been teased since early videos of Ghosts multiplayer. Players will fight in a missile launch facility in which multiple test engines that can be activated. The map is a re-make of the multiplayer map “Scrapyard” from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

    In addition to the new competitive multiplayer maps, Onslaught will come with the first of four planned narrative-driven episodes for Ghosts‘ Extinction co-op mode. The add-on will introduce two new characters, two new alien species, and a new weapon. The content is set in a remote research station somewhere in Alaska, where players will have to battle aliens while on a mission to uncover the truth behind the invasion.

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Made $1 Billion on its First Day

    Activision today announced that it sold more than $1 billion worth of Call of Duty: Ghosts during the game’s first 24 hours on sale. This breaks the previous one-day record set back in September by Grand Theft Auto V, which sold more than $800 million on its first day and hit the billion-dollar mark within three days. Ghosts was released yesterday, November 5, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U.

    “Call of Duty is by far the largest console franchise of this generation,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision. “More people have played Call of Duty this year than ever before, logging four billion hours of gameplay. And in the last 12 months, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, including its digital content, generated more revenues than any other console game ever has in a single year. Although it is too early to assess sell-through for Call of Duty: Ghosts, it’s launching at a time when the franchise has never been more popular.”

    Importantly for Activision, Call of Duty: Ghosts almost certainly cost far less to produce than GTA V, which had a far longer development time. This means that more of that money will be inflating Activision’s bottom line.

    With sales figures for current-generation consoles through the roof, it would be easy to assume that Call of Duty fans have opted to shy away from next-generation versions of the title, but that isn’t the case. In addition to the sales figures, Activision also asserted today that Call of Duty: Ghosts is GameStop’s most pre-ordered next-generation title.

  • New ‘Call of Duty’ Stats Released on Eve of Launch

    Call of Duty fans are now just hours away from the release of this year’s iteration of the popular shooter franchise. Call of Duty: Ghosts is set to introduce fans to things like military dogs, space combat, and female multiplayer soldiers. Gamers however, will likely jump right into the game’s multiplayer tonight and begin unlocking the game’s weapons and gear.

    With the Ghosts launch so close, Activision today provided a reminder of just how popular Call of Duty multiplayer really is. A new infographic released by the publisher claims that gamers play a combined 1900 years of the game every single day – a figure that is likely to increase in the coming weeks as fans jump into the new game.

    The infographic also has other mind-boggling stats such as the 1.9 quadrillion (1,900,000,000,000,000) player respawns that have taken place in more than 18 billion multiplayer matches since the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007.

    Call of Duty infographic

    Call of Duty: Ghosts will be out for current-gen consoles, next-gen consoles (including Wii U), and PC tonight at midnight. Gamers who buy the game for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One have to wait a few weeks to play their copy, unless they take advantage of Activision’s next-gen $10 upgrade offer.

  • New ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Trailer Features Megan Fox

    For years now, the Call of Duty series has famously been marketed using live-action trailers. Instead of actual gameplay, which doesn’t vary a great deal from year-to-year, the trailers feature normal people and celebrities fighting it out in massive battles. Last year’s live-action trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was directed by Guy Ritchie and featured Jack Black, Zach Galifianakis, and Robert Downey, Jr.

    This weekend Activision released the official live-action trailer for this year’s Call of Duty iteration, Call of Duty: Ghosts. Titled “Epic Night Out,” the trailer features four normal-looking guys in increasingly ridiculous combat situations, including combat in space. The celebrity appearances have been scaled back to one out-of-place cameo from former Transformers actress Megan Fox.

    This year’s video was directed by James Mangold, who is best known for directing movies such as Identity, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, and The Wolverine.

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Bonus Map Gameplay Previewed

    With only days to go before the launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Activision has now revealed one of its last efforts to encourage pre-orders for the yearly shooter. The publisher has released a new gameplay trailer featuring multiplayer action in a competitive map named “Free Fall.”

    Free Fall will be a free downloadable bonus map for players who pre-order Call of Duty: Ghosts. Activision previewed the map back in August when it was announced as a pre-order bonus with a video showcasing developers at Infinity Ward describing their efforts at shaping the map.

    Free Fall is a bit special for the Call of Duty franchise, as it features more dynamically-changing elements than other multiplayer maps in the series that have come before it. Players will battle inside of a crumbling building that is wedged between two skyscrapers. The floors of the map will partially be the glass windows of the building, forcing players to adapt as the environment changes over the course of a match. It’s Infinity Ward’s answer to Battlefield 4’s much-touted “Levolution” concept.

    The trailer for the map put out today actually shows some simulated multiplayer gameplay on Free Fall:

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Perks System Detailed

    With just days to go before the release of the next yearly Call of Duty title, Activision has detailed one of the most important parts of the game’s competitive multiplayer modes – the perks system.

    Call of Duty: Ghosts will feature a very flexible perks system in which players will be able to customize their load-out with a variety of special abilities. Each of the 35 available perks has a point value from one to five, depending on how valuable it is. Each load-out a player creates has a base of 8 points to spend on these perks. These points can be increased by one (up to 12) for removing each of the primary, secondary, tactical, and lethal weapons from the load-out.

    Of course, not all of the perks will start out unlocked. Players will unlock perks as they level up. Alternatively, the “Squad Point” in-game currency earned by gaining XP can be used to unlock specific perks ahead of time.

    The perks are all grouped into seven categories of five. The categories include speed, handling, stealth, awareness, resistance, equipment, and elite, which includes special perks such as Gambler (gives a random perk).

    Much of this new perks system was teased back in August in a long, Microsoft-produced video about Ghosts multiplayer that was released around the time of the Gamescom conference:

  • Call of Duty: Ghosts “Extinction” Mode Revealed in New Trailer

    With only one week to go before the launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts on PC and current-generation consoles, Activision has officially revealed a new game mode called “Extinction.” The mode seems to be Infinity Ward’s answer to the popular Zombies mode found in Call of Duty games developed by Treyarch.

    Extinction will be a cooperative game mode pitting up to four players against waves of alien creatures. As shown in the first trailer for Extinction mode, players will have to destroy alien hives while fighting off the alien horde. To do that, players will have to defend a drill that places bombs into alien hives for a certain amount of time. Killstreak weapons and environmental traps can all be used to help players survive. It appears to be a mix of Zombies mode mixed with a bit of classic FPS horde modes.

    The reveal trailer does not include any gameplay footage, though the preview does indicate that the game mode will be extremely fast-paced and full of action:

  • Nintendo Announces Wii U Skylanders Bundle For The Holidays

    Earlier this week, Nintendo announced a new Wii U bundle for the holidays that included New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U for $300. That’s a pretty good value, but some prospective shoppers may be bummed out that it doesn’t include Nintendo Land. Well, Nintendo has you covered with another Wii U bundle that includes Nintendo Land and what is arguably the biggest kids franchise today in gaming.

    Nintendo announced today that it has partnered with Activision to offer a Wii U Skylanders Swap Force bundle for the holidays. The $299 bundle launches November 15 and includes a white 8GB Wii U Basic system, the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack and a copy of Nintendo Land.

    “There are so many great elements to this Skylanders Swap Force Wii U bundle that we almost couldn’t cram them all into the box,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “This amazing deal provides a huge amount of entertainment for kids and their families to play together.”

    So, what does the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack include? With it, you’ll get the game disc, a portal of power that’s used to scan figurines into the game, three figurines – Ninja Stealth Elf, Blast-Zone and Washbuckler – and some other collectible goods.

    Nintendo is obviously targeting families with young children with this latest bundle as Skylanders has become the biggest kids franchise in gaming ever since its inception a few years ago. Kids adore the real toy collection aspect of the franchise, and parents tolerate spending hundreds of dollars on rare, collectable figures.

    Skylanders Swap Force is already available on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii and Nintendo 3DS. It will be available on November 15 for the PS4 and November 22 for the Xbox One.

    [Image: Nintendo/Business Wire]

  • ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Launch Trailer Officially Released

    With the launch of Activision’s yearly Call of Duty game just two weeks away, the publisher today revealed the official launch trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Dedicated fans of the series may have already seen the trailer, as it was accidentally leaked over the weekend.

    For those who haven’t seen it, the trailer provides an action-packed look at the next iteration of the Call of Duty franchise. Various set pieces seen in previous videos are all accounted for. Space combat is teased again and the military dogs that developer Infinity Ward has been touting since the game’s announcement feature prominently. There is also nearly constant fire and upwards of a dozen explosions during the minute-long clip.

    Call of Duty: Ghosts will hit store shelves on November 5, just ahead of Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen console launches. Fans who buy the current-gen version of the game will have the option of upgrading to a next-gen version of Ghosts for $10.