Episode 69: Kneel Before Pod!: The Movie

Kneel Before Pod returns! We start the show off with a little reflection on this year's E3 and the fate of conventions like it. Then in the second part of our show we talk about adaptations. Whether it's your favorite comic book or video game, I can guarantee that there is someone out there working to make it into a TV show or a movie. Then we top it all off with a big heaping helping of Fucking News.

PUT IT IN YOUR EARS!!!

Music featured in this episode:
Devo - Fresh
Goldfrapp - Happiness

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Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty release date announced

In a recent press release, Activision Blizzard has finally given a release date to it's long awaited sequel in the Starcraft Universe. The new game, officially titled Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, will be released worldwide on July 27th.

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe for many years, and we're excited that the time for that is almost here," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Thanks to our beta testers, we're making great progress on the final stages of development, and we'll be ready to welcome players all over the world to StarCraft II and the new Battle.net in just a few months."

Bad Company 2 taking shots at Modern Warfare 2 marketing

You might remember a viral internet ad that was done for Modern Warfare 2 sometime back. The ad in question involved the National League Championship pitcher, and professional dreamboat, Cole Hamels as a Fighter Against Grenade Spam. It turns out that F.A.G.S. was a hit with some, but most people found it offensive and juvenile for some reason...

So needless to say, when EA released their own ad starting CC Sabathia, star of a a well known professional baseball team based in New York metropolitan area, I was ready to put on my "Simpsons did it" hat. As it turns out, EA and the boys at DICE have a good grasp on satire.



Apparently EA and DICE are so confident of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 they are willing to directly call out Modern Warfare 2. I personally think their product is good enough to go head to head with the FPS giant, but what do you think? Let us know over on our forum

With new MW2 map pack announcement, it all becomes painfully clear...

Fresh off our show about Activision, the company gives us another reason to dislike them. When Infinity Ward announced the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 would not support private servers and wouldn't be releasing the development tools to the player created content community there was an outcry. These are both things that have been staples of the PC first person community and have been responsible for games living long lives beyond their console based siblings. One of the biggest factors that Activision and Infinity Ward sited for this changes was fairplay. The new IW.net was promoted as a place where people could play without worry of cheaters and hacks. Unfortunately, the game itself has many issues that can be exploited without the aid of additional programs, leading to what can be equated to state-supported cheating. So with the general failure of nearly every goal that IW.net set forth the most cynical of us are now having our point reinforced daily.

Activision, feeling my job as a video game industry muckraker and general loud mouth is too easy, announced it's first map pack for Modern Warfare 2 today. G4tv.com reported today that the new map pack, which includes 3 new maps and 2 recycled maps from the original Modern Warfare, will be released at a price of $15. That's right folks, the same thing that Valve and other companies often give you for free, Activision is charging you for. But not only charging, charging you 1/4th of the game's original value. A game who's multi-player has been fundamentally broken since day one.  It seems that the move to 100% IW.net was nothing more than a ploy to require all content come directly from Activision, and of course, at a price.

Maybe it's just the person I am, but I would think a map pack like this could be a "Thank you for making this the best selling game of all time" or "We're sorry the game has been broken and exploited." These maps could have been an olive branch for Activision to it's customers in a time that they really need it. I'm not sure if they read what people are saying, but the gaming community isn't really happy with them right now. But instead, of fostering goodwill with the very people that keep them in business, they decided to twist the knife and gouge for a few more dollars.

It seems that Activision is hell bent on alienating the fans and developers of one of the most popular franchises of all time. Just remember though, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has tanks, destructible environments and is releasing some free maps shortly. Not saying you should stop playing Call of Duty games and jump onto Battlefield, I'm just saying...

EA schedules upgrade to hardware, but asks you turn your server off for now.

Since it's European launch, Bad Company 2 has completely destroyed EA's master servers. In a recent post on the Battlefield blog, it was revealed that players in game have already collected 34 billion xp points with over 400 million kills being made, 1.3 million of which were people being ran over by a vehicle. Apparently the game is proving to be popular.

EA and DICE have been struggling to keep players online. The most recent strategy is an unprecedented one. They were actually requesting players renting server space from Multiplay.co.uk to actually opt into a list that would allow their server be shut down when it was sitting idle and empty of players. It is a bold move to actually ask people voluntarily to shut down servers, but hopefully it won't matter much longer.

Tomorrow there is a planned hardware update that should improve performance and matchmaking across all platforms. EA is planning on taking down the servers starting around midnight PST and return about four hours later with the promise of a better online experience for everyone. On the PC specific end of things, DICE is also working on a client fix to improve server browsing speeds and increase the available player slots from it's current 150,000 players concurrently. So if you've been having problems connecting to Battlefield: Bad Company 2's multiplayer, there might be some relief in sight.

Sony Officially Announces Playstation Move at GDC press event

Tonight Sony officially unveiled the name for it's new motion controller system during a live press event at The Game Developers Conference. Freshly off being named, the Playstation Move seems to have changed little since we last saw it, but we were treated to some live on stage demos this time around.

The concept is deceptively simple. You pretty much mash the Wii controller together with Microsoft's Natal. So now instead of a controller that receives signals from a transmitter bar like the Nintendo Wii, you have Sony's Eye camera tracking a lit bulb at the end of the controller.

Almost like a warning shot fired at Microsoft over reported Natal latency issues, Sony makes bold claims of a single frame response time making real time control and rendering a reality. Without getting an actual hands on, it is hard to support or deny these claims. Though, there did appear to be some lag in their street fighting game, the other titles did appear to run very well.

The biggest problem Sony might have to overcome with the Playstation Move is the idea that this all seems familiar. A sports game that shows us that we can play tennis, a first person shooter, some sword play and some party games. If the on screen characters were Miis, it would have really come across as a Nintendo Wii presentation. It is going to be really hard for Sony to make this a unique experience now that motion controls are quickly become old hat and boring for some players. Even the things that the Wii can't do, are familiar ground. Having video of yourself that is integrated with the game play and you directly interact with the environment is nothing new. Not only is it nothing new, but it's something that has mainly been rejected by the gaming mainstream.

The strangest thing was Sony introducing a second controller piece that is held off hand, which features more buttons and an analog control stick.  To illustrate how familiar and ingrained the Wii is into the gaming culture, I have a feeling at least 50% of everyone that read the last sentence thought "Yeah, like a nunchuck."  Sony will have an uphill battle trying to establish itself as being unique, but so far, it seems like the technology is very sound.

There is another thing that Sony must be given credit for. They have now officially shown us way more working software for their Playstation Move than Microsoft has shown for the Natal. Only time will tell if the Move will help keep the motion control craze alive, or if it will join the Nintendo Power Pad as just another footnote on strange video game trends.

While Sony didn't announce any pricing for the Playstation Move, they did hint at it while breaking down their distribution model.  The first option will come as a controller only package for those that already have the Eye camera.  If you don't own the camera, you can get a bundle that includes the controller, the camera and a game.  It was announced that this bundle will be priced below $100.  Lastly, if you don't even own a PS3, there will be a bundle that collects everything together along with a Playstation 3 console.  So apparently Sony believes that the Playstation Move will move some consoles.  I am truly sorry for that pun...

Trouble still plaguing Bad Company 2's Online Multiplayer

In our review for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, we stated that the online multiplayer is amazing. Now might be the time to go back and add an asterisk, stating the online multiplayer is amazing... if you can ever connect.

We previously reported on the PC connectivity issues, well it only seems to be getting worse. If console players were jealous of PC players because of their exclusive, they should now be satisfied. Yesterday they had an issue that not only affected PC users, but PS3 customers as well. Now before you Xbox fanboys start your relentless schoolyard teasing... Just minutes ago, the following tweet appeared on Bad Company 2's official twitter.

"We are aware of the connectivity issues that are happening on PC and 360 right now. We are sorry for this and working on solving the problem"

It seems that the popularity of the game might be partially to blame. On the Battlefield: Bad Company's European forums DICE associate producer Barrie Tingle states that within only a matter of days, Bad Company 2 has already surpassed Battlefield 2 in concurrent players. According to EA, Battlefield 2 has remained in the top 5 most played FPS games since it's launch in 2005.

Bad Company Servers? Battlefield: BC2 Master PC servers go down

Just days after it's North American release and on the day of it's European launch, the PC version of EA's new Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is already hitting a snag. Players that have the PC version of the game are finding they are not able to connect to EA's online service and are unable to join multiplayer.

On Battlefield: Bad Company 2's official European forums, DICE associate producer Barrie Tingle posted the official reason;

"We are sending out new servers to our providers called "R5". They will be testing them out and changing over the servers by tomorrow evening. This server contains some fixes for the "Connection to the server has been lost" message that a lot of you will have seen.

We are also working on making another new server over the weekend as EA has set up some dedicated front-end boxes just for Battlefield Bad Company 2 which we will update the server to use and should work to improve the stability of connections to EA for everyone."

and in another thread tech "gimp" [MPUK]Killing reports;

"There are currently problems with the master servers that handle Bad Company 2.

EA are aware of the problem and are working as quickly as possible to resolve the problems."

Timing doesn't seem like it could get much worse as the woes of the former heads of Infinity Ward, developers of Bad Company's primary rival Modern Warfare, have overshadowed the title's launch.

At this time it appears console versions of the title are unaffected, and the problem is isolated to PC gamers only.

**Update 7:15pm**

Apparently, it's not just Bad Company 2 that is effected by this outage. The following was posted on Battlefield: Bad Company 2's official twitter feed;

"EA Online is currently investigating an outage of the servers that affects a number of EA games. A fix will be done as soon as possible."

Update on Portal news and Drattmanh0nee secret revealed!

Apparently the rumors in our Portal story were actually truthors. Today, Valve released the following very short announcement;

---

March 5, 2010, 9:44 am - Valve - Press Release
Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike and Half-Life) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Portal 2 for shipment this coming holiday season.

Portal 2 is the sequel to 2007's Portal, which won 70 industry achievement awards.

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

---

Yes, those underlines were intentional. The underlined characters actually spell out drattmanh0nee, which is actually a login for a BBS that was hidden in the radio transmissions of Portal's latest update. Don't want to go to all the trouble to log into the BBS and then convert the revealed code into QBasic? I don't blame you. In a nutshell, here is what it all results in.





  

These easter eggs seem to confirm Game Informer's reports that the sequel will offer up co-op game play. In their article revealing April's cover, Game Informer also details that Portal 2 will be a full length stand alone game.

So Cake fans rejoice, because Portal as a franchise is still alive.

Valve updates Portal with... a new ending?

In case you haven't heard, a new patch went live this week for Valve's critically acclaimed FPS/Puzzle/Platformer/Cake Simulator. While everyone loves an update, it seemed strange to many that Portal would receive an update. What was even more unusual was the notes for the patch that simply stated "changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations." This patch added radios on every level that when picked up and carried to a specific spot in the map would transmit a special coded message. These messages seemed to range from everything from program code to morse code.

Then yesterday, another patch went live. This time, the note simply reads ""Added valuable asset retrieval." Another cryptic patch note led more curious players to start playing the game again to see what was added. Apparently, this latest patch added a new ending to the game, which you can see below.

**Of course this contains spoilers. It's the ending of a game. Don't be thick.**


With this new ending, that is strangely less ambiguous while being even more mysterious, has led many people to speculate that there will be a Portal announcement from Valve at the Game Developers Conference next week in San Fransisco. Another rumor also swirling about the interwubs is that Valve might be announcing a Steam Application for Mac. This could be a possibility since Valve is currently in beta for a totally revamped Steam program for the PC. It might be possible we will see a Mac version going live the same time the PC version gets the large upgrade.

I for one just wish we would get some Half-Life 2: Episode 3 news...

Activision and Infinity Ward update

Yesterday we brought you a story about Activision shaking up it's development house Infinity Ward and their plans to make Call of Duty into more or less it's own company. Well the drama isn't over yet. Just like in a Call of Duty game, there's always a twist.

Just moments ago, G4tv.com broke a story that Infinity Ward's former CTO Jason West and president Vince Zampella have filed a lawsuit against the software giant Activision. In statements released today, the two are claiming that Activision is terminating their contracts mere weeks before they were to receive royalty payments for their record breaking game Modern Warfare 2.

"We were shocked by Activision's decision to terminate our contract," said West in today's release. "We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we've been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we've done speaks for itself."

Zampella added, "After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn't have to sue to get paid."

In today's release, the former heads of Infinity Ward also stated that the reasons suplied by Activision for the duo's termination were completely false. Robert Schwartz, the lawyer representing West and Zampella, went on to say "last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."

To top this all off, West and Zampella are also claiming that in their contracts with Activision that they were given creative control over the Modern Warfare brand. If this is correct, it is possible that Activision could no longer produce Modern Warfare titles and that West and Zampella would be able to approach another publisher with the franchise.

Stay tuned folks, because this is apparently going to last longer than a CoD single player campaign.

Activision announces it's new "Lightning in a Bottle" division.

If you follow gaming news, you might have heard what has been going on the past 24 hours or so. Initial reports from Infinity Ward staff via G4tv.com was that private security showed up unannounced at their office. When IW employees asked the "bouncer" looking guys why they were there, they were told they couldn't give any information. At that point, we also hear that IW's president Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella had a meeting earlier in the day with Activision. A meeting, after which, they never returned to their offices from. Late last night, both men more or less announced they were no longer employed by Activision through multiple social networking sites. Today, it was announced that Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick would be meeting first with the remaining leadership of Infinity Ward and then would address the remaining staff behind closed doors.

With Activision's recent cut backs in development staff and their track history of a lack of respect for the artistic process, there were some pretty wild theories flying around the internet as to what is actually going on.  In the end, the truth really isn't that shocking for anyone that has been paying attention.

In a press release that Activision issued today, it became clear that they think Call of Duty is more than just a franchise, it's a brand. It is stated in the release that "The plans include the formation of a dedicated business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives" and "The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in its Blizzard(R) Entertainment business unit." But what does this mean?

This means that Activision isn't just happy with the nearly annual installments of Call of Duty as a First Person Shooter and you're going to see the name "Call of Duty" slapped on a lot of stuff over the next couple years. To illustrate this, Activision also announced their plans to release an action-adventure (i.e. Not FPS) Call of Duty title by Sledgehammer Games in 2011. Sledgehammer is "a newly formed, wholly owned studio" as Activision is quick to point out in their release. With the reference to Blizzard's business unit and their stated desire to expand into more Asian markets, it's seeming that rumors of a Call of Duty MMO are more and more likely to be true though nothing was announced today.

It was also stated that Call of Duty's b-team Treyarch, are still at Activision. For the past few years, Treyarch has been the developer that has produced Call of Duty titles to be released during the down time of Infinity Ward's development cycle. According to the press release, Treyarch's latest Call of Duty game is set for a fall 2010 release.

Now that only leaves Infinity Ward, you know the people that created the series and who's Call of Duty titles out perform any CoD title developed by other houses. Well, all the release says about them is they're working on map packs. I think it's safe to say that with the removal of IW's leadership, the new in house developers and new corporate structure, that Infinity Ward has been shown the door creatively with all decisions in the franchise being made by former executives from Nestle.

It is unclear if Infinity Ward's former president and CEO were released due to creative differences, compensation disputes or maybe something more sinister. One unconfirmed report is that the official reason for their dismissal was due to insubordination and breach of contract. No specifics were given as their termination was not even addressed in today's press release.

So now Activision has put it's cards on the table and months of hinting and speculation can be put to rest. Though it now leaves us with even more questions. The most important being will this pay off for Activision or will this be the end of the golden age for the Call of Duty franchise? Only time will tell.

**Update March 3rd 2010** Former Infinity Ward heads file lawsuit against Activision