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Recommended Reading: NFL player turns mercenary in 'Call of Duty'
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. 'The Whole Game is Beast Mode' by Sam Alipour ESPN The Magazine Kevin Spacey temporarily shelved his presidential persona to play a private military contractor in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. For this year's title, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch hung up his cleats to play a mercenary in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. ESPN The Magazine has a behind-the-scenes look at the process, from motion capture to facial scans required to construct the digital version of the NFL player.
Major League Gaming finals head to New Orleans in October
The Major League Gaming World Finals, featuring championships for Dota 2 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, will be held in New Orleans at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from October 16th to the 18th. The 2015 MLG Finals boast a prize pool of more than $500,000, and it will be the organization's 100th live event (that's some nice timing). MLG, founded in 2002, is the longest-running eSports organization in existence and it's awarded more than $13.5 million in prize money across a range of games over the years. A General Admission pass for all three days of the Finals runs $50, or snag a Dota 2 or Advanced Warfare VIP pass for $200 each. Pro gaming fans, purchase tickets in the MLG store.
Of course there's a shark in this 'Call of Duty' Exo Zombies video
Carrier, the latest map for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's Exo Zombies mode, is a seafaring vessel infested with hordes of ravenous former-humans. Since it's on the open seas, of course the ship has a tank with a monstrous, toothy shark just chillin' inside. The shark isn't the intended star of this trailer -- Bruce Campbell and the zombie-slaughtering gunplay is -- but anything with that many teeth is sure to steal the show. See for yourself below. Exo Zombies Carrier is part of the Supremacy DLC pack, due to hit Xbox Live on June 2, with additional platforms to follow.
'Call of Duty: Black Ops 3' is fast, frantic and adds a co-op campaign
Developer Treyarch has a good record of keeping things fresh in Call of Duty. The company started working on the franchise back in 2005. With World at War it added zombies; Black Ops went to Vietnam; Black Ops 2 traversed time and added branching narratives. For its next installment, Treyarch is, once again, trying something new. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (set to arrive November 6th on PC, Xbox One and PS4) brings campaign co-op back to the franchise. The entire campaign will be playable co-operatively by up to four players online (or two players locally). The addition of up to three campaign players meant building bigger combat arenas, better AI and adding social features for showing off medals and achievements.
The new 'Call of Duty Black Ops 3' trailer looks... familiar
The latest teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops 3 -- this year's installment from Black Ops creator Treyarch -- depicts a future ruptured by the onset of technologically enhanced and weaponized humans. There are riots in the streets and ominous news reports on the screens, plus a whistleblower who claims that the government is turning humans into death machines. Black Ops generally deals with futuristic combat, but the new transhumanist angle is oddly reminiscent of another AAA franchise, Deus Ex. And that's not just us saying so: The official Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Twitter account responded to the Black Ops 3 trailer with a picture of a confused (and adorable) cat, and Deus Ex executive art director Jonathan Jacques-Belletete jokingly welcomed Treyarch to the bandwagon. "We lied guyz. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided actually takes place on the Eastern Front during World War 2. We felt inspired," he tweeted. Watch the teaser below and judge our technological future for yourself.
Buckle up for 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 3'
This year's Call of Duty is likely to be Black Ops 3, as hinted at in a fresh teaser trailer titled "#backinblack." Well, either it hints at Black Ops 3 or Activision is trying really, really hard to throw the entire world off its scent. Treyarch, the studio that created the Black Ops franchise within Call of Duty, is in charge of the 2015 game, so it was already likely that we'd see a third this year. Activision plans to reveal the new Call of Duty on April 26, and you bet we'll have all of the juicy details then. Watch the new teaser below.
You probably bought 'Call of Duty' and 'Destiny'
It's true: you probably bought Call of Duty and/or Destiny this year. If you play games or buy presents for someone who does, there's a strong possibility that you paid for one or both of these two blockbusters this year. They're number one (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare) and number two (Destiny) on this year's top sales list, and they're both from one publisher: Activision. Do you know how many games Activision publishes? Three games, more or less: Call of Duty, Destiny and Skylanders. There's a strong possibility you've heard of that third game from your children, who won't stop hounding you for more and more $12 toys to use with their $60 game.
Recommended Reading: a brief history of female superheroes
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Suffering Sappho! The Tortured History of Female Superheroes by Molly Lambert, Grantland With the truckload of recent comic book movie announcements, female superheroes are poised to make a big splash at the box office in the years to come -- including Gal Gadot (above) as Wonder Woman. However, previous female-led efforts in the genre haven't done well, and the biggest films continue to have dudes as the lead actors. Grantland takes a look at the troubled history of female superheroes as both Marvel and DC Comics prep to give the ladies another shot at Hollywood glory.
PlayStation 4's SharePlay can be turned off by developers
Sad news, PS4 owners -- that awesome new "virtual-couch" feature Sony added with the console's latest update won't work with the latest Call of Duty game. Users trying to use Share Play to digitally lend Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare to a friend have found the feature completely blocked. "This host's game screen is not displayed because the current scene is a blocked scene for Share Play," the guest's screen will display. "Wait until the blocked scene is finished." Unfortunately, the entire game is flagged as a "blocked scene."
'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' is having a rocky launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4
Call of Duty continues to be a pretty big deal. Despite annualized releases and the occasional stinker (we're looking at you, Modern Warfare 3!), people still love to wage virtual war on Activision's battlefields. Hey, we hear this year's game is pretty good! And when you've got a new Xbox One or PlayStation 4 this holiday, there's a strong possibility you'll want to check out this year's entry, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare -- statistically speaking, anyway. Should you be one of those folks: beware! Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of CoD are having issues. The kind of issues that make the game outright unplayable. Somewhere in Los Angeles, Kevin Spacey is shedding a single tear and he doesn't know why.
Conan O'Brien thinks the new 'Call of Duty' is ridiculous too
There's something cathartic about watching Conan O'Brien stumble his way around video-game trade shows, and, naturally, games themselves. He isn't immune to the bullshit that many of us just kind of put up with in our favorite pastime and puts it front-and-center pretty regularly, albeit comically, in his Clueless Gamer segments. Which is what makes watching him play through Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare so satisfying -- spectacle is the mortar that holds the whole game together, and you'd need a crane to properly suspend your disbelief when playing. Naturally, he calls out the absolute absurdity of attending an in-game funeral and being forced to "interact" with the coffin to pay your respects ("this is a real emotional moment for me").
Playdate: We're livestreaming 'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' on PS4! (update: game over!)
It's a series that's become as staid and expected as the turning of the seasons, and is consistently a "safe" bet if you're looking for a few hours of mindless fun in a tightly-scripted shooting gallery masked as an interactive narrative. Does it carry over to freshman studio Sledgehammer Games' turn at the franchise with Advanced Warfare?
'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare': The Joystiq Review
You get just a novel snippet of peace in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. In this shooter's future, technology has trumped terrorism, rooted out the last evil masterminds and flexed its bionic muscles in total defiance of lead-footed politicians who'd rather talk than get things done. "The world is running out of bad guys," your partner says, hopeful but tragically unaware that he's basically describing a video game glitch. Call of Duty never runs out of bad guys. This one gets points for honesty, though, in that there is no pretentious cover-up of why the good guys beat the bad guys (or why the plot finds them easily interchangeable). In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, you win because you have better guns, stronger sights, super abilities and superior movement. Whether it's in the rich and varied multiplayer mode, or the frantic, thrill-a-minute single-player campaign, you're constantly relying on cool weapons and combat data to make taking lives easier. Advanced Warfare front-loads the benefits of power in a franchise that has always made technology the exalted, almost fetishized solution to every problem. And you know what? It's more fun when it admits as much. Click here for more
Recommended Reading: Hollywood's love affair with Christopher Nolan
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Why Hollywood Loves 'Interstellar' Director Christopher Nolan by Ben Fritz, The Wall Street Journal Folks in Hollywood seem to trust director Christopher Nolan to crank out films that'll grab box office bucks. His latest effort, Interstellar, hits movie theaters next week, and it cost a whopping $165 million to make. According to The Wall Street Journal's Ben Fritz, the last non-franchise film to shell out that much was Nolan's 2010 film Inception. The filmmaker seems to get whatever he needs to craft his movies, with the trust that he'll keep his streak of success going.
Manuel Noriega's case against Activision dismissed by California judge
Apparently Mayor Giuliani's defense worked: Former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega's case against Activision for including his likeness in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has been dismissed by a California judge. As Kotaku spotted, Activision issued a press release stating that this was an important win for not just video games, but historical fiction in general."This was an absurd lawsuit from the very beginning and we're gratified that in the end, a notorious criminal didn't win," Giuliani says. So there's that! Anyone who wants to bend the history books a bit to suit their narrative needs should be pretty much in the clear from here on out.
Walmart starts selling used games on November 3rd
Remember when Walmart announced it was going to start taking video-game trade-ins? Well, now the retail giant's ready to sell them back to you. Starting November 3rd, some 1,700 of Walmart's stores will begin selling pre-owned games. And to take another swipe at GameStop, Walmart's also announced that it'll be selling this year's Call of Duty, Advanced Warfare, at 12.01 a.m. on "day zero" without needing to pre-order it. What's more, any trade-ins made on November 3rd and 4th (Advanced Warfare's launch days) will net you 50 percent more credit when you purchase CoD. Need a console to play it on? Well, anything you trade in toward a PlayStation 4 will net you double the in-store credit -- tough luck if you wanted a matching Xbox One.
This year's 'Call of Duty' on PS3 and 360 comes with a free new-gen upgrade
Activision is taking a page out of its own book and throwing Call of Duty fans that haven't yet upgraded to new consoles a bone. That's right, if you pick up a digital copy of this year's Advanced Warfare for either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, you'll get a free upgrade to a new-gen copy within the same console family. That means PlayStation 3 begets a PlayStation 4 download and Xbox 360 in turn unlocks an Xbox One version. What's more, each console will retain its respective license and you'll still be able to play online with your buddies on new and old boxes (with frickin' lasers!) after you do the deed. The offer expires at the end of next March, and like with Destiny before it, premium content like season passes will carry over too. Sounds like a pretty great deal unless, of course, you were planning to pick up one of those special edition Xbox Ones.
Engadget Daily: GoPro Hero4, the gospel of virtual reality and more!
Hey, want to spice up your Monday evening? Check out our news highlights from the last 24 hours, including the GoPro Hero4, everything you need to know about the Bash shell flaw, and more. You know you want to.
Think tank hires 'Call of Duty' game director to predict the future of war
If you felt that Call of Duty: Black Ops II presented an eerily plausible vision of war in the years ahead, you're not alone. The Atlantic Council, a political think tank, has asked Black Ops II director Dave Anthony to contribute to an "Art of Future Warfare" project that looks at fiction as a possible insight into next-generation conflicts. As he explains, the next big threat to the US probably doesn't fit into conventional definitions of war -- a game developer can imagine fantastic scenarios that might just come true, such as Black Ops II's drone assault on a G20 meeting. This isn't the same as directly guiding US policy, so Anthony's effect will likely be limited. However, it won't be surprising if the country is eventually better prepared for high-tech terrorists and other dangers that it otherwise wouldn't have anticipated.
Activision hires Rudy Giuliani for Manuel Noriega's Call of Duty lawsuit
If you think that ex-dictator Manuel Noriega's lawsuit over his appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops II is more than a little ridiculous, you're not alone. Activision has filed a motion to dismiss the former Panamanian leader's complaint before it ever reaches a courtroom, citing a California statute that prevent lawsuits threatening free speech. As attorney Rudy Giuliani (yes, that Rudy Giuliani) explains, it's "absurd" that a ruler convicted of crimes against his own citizens would demand compensation from a company that's exercising its civil rights. If Noriega won, he could set a precedent where historical personas and their families could ban appearances in any media format.
