Former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West have added Fraud charges to their lawsuit against their former bosses at Activision, reports
GameSpot, who say they have seen the amended legal filings (thanks
Big Download). At issue is a Memorandum of Understanding which offered them more autonomy, though they were skeptical this could be circumvented by firing them. They claim they signed this after being told by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, "Don’t worry about it. It’s impossible for you guys to get fired." Here's more:
"While paying lip-service to West’s and Zampella’s creative authority, in 2008 and thereafter, Activision began secret development of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty games and related products, and undertook other conduct in relation to these two videogame franchises that, under the MOU, required prior approval from West and Zampella," the amended complaint reads. "Activision did not inform West or Zampella of such plans or seek their input or approval for them. Indeed, while breaching the creative authority provisions of the MOU, Activision continued to pay lip-service to them, in an attempt to mask its secret development efforts."
Speaking to GameSpot, a lawyer representing West and Zampella indicated that in addition to actual and punitive damages, the two are seeking a rescission of the MOU. If granted, Activision would co-own the Modern Warfare brand with Vince and Zampella, which would give the two the right to release their own copies of the game. A voided contract would also give West and Zampella the right to create new games in the Modern Warfare franchise, he said.
Storm Eagle Studios now offers
Ship Pack 2: Dogger Bank for
JUTLAND, their World War I naval combat simulator. The new pack "includes 225 new beautifully rendered, historically accurate 3D ship models, featuring the long awaited 1915 German Capital Ships, one full year 1915 campaign, one full month Dogger Bank campaign, and several stand alone scenarios." This can be acquired by their new digital delivery client, called
STORMPOWERED, which earns them this year's odd planning award, as announcing their Steam-like client with a Steam-like name on April Fools' Day was probably not optimal timing. You can get STORMPOWERED from their
Store Page, and here's word on what it offers:
- Play all your games from any STORMPOWERED PC
- Play games Off-line
- Anti-Theft Lock Feature
- Auto Restore Game Library
- Auto Activation
- No License # to remember
- Much More!
- Complete Store/Game Lib./Community Integration
The
Digitanks Blog has details on the new Artillery Update now available for
Digitanks, the turn-based artillery strategy game from
Lunar Workshop. Heading off the inevitable concerns, word is: "No, this is not an April Fools joke. You will not be disappointed. Tanks will actually blow up, and and [sic] nobody will pop out of your closet and yell “APRIL FOOLS!” I hate it when that happens too." The update includes a graphics overhaul, 14 new weapons, AI improvements, a reinvented artillery mode, four new terrain types, and more. A free demo version is also available.
TweakTown - Preaching to the converted – The scourge of piracy warnings.
Unfortunately, a side effect of this mentality is punishing consumers, the very consumers who are supporting their products. As discussed earlier, anti-piracy warnings have been a staple since the very beginnings of home video. But in recent years, they've taken a more annoying tone, with unskippable messages and warnings. On VHS, the static warnings were skippable with the fast forward button. Simple.
And like James Bond we float away safely as the villainous April Fools' Day 2011 explodes spectacularly in the background. Thankfully nobody was injured. Please return your flight attendant to her original upright position.
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