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Trion starts the Trove teasing
Trion Worlds made news earlier this week by registering several domains with the word "Trove" in them. While the studio made no announcement regarding new games in development, most speculation centered firmly on Trove being Trion's next big project. Today we've received another little tidbit on the topic via Trion's official and brand-new Trove Twitter account. Posting under the name TroveGame, Trion asked simply, "Where will you go?" It's not much in terms of information, but the Twitter username at least confirms that Trove is a game. The profile information says only, "Something new from Trion Worlds." Stay tuned.
Trion Worlds registers Trove domains
Trion Worlds looks to be up to something new, as the studio has snapped up several domain registrations with the word "Trove" in them. TroveGame.com and PlayTrove.com are but two of the many domains secured by CEO Scott Hartsman as of late. There are also several regional domains in the list, including those for Germany, Canada, and the UK. As of the writing of this post, none of the domains link to a working website. Could this be a new title from Trion or an expansion to one of its other games? Whatever the case may be, we'll be keeping a close eye on this situation. [Thanks to WNxArcticwolf for the tip!]
Fable Legends domains registered
Microsoft has registered web domains for Fable Legends in .com and .net flavors. The franchise has been on hiatus since horse butt sim Fable: The Journey in late 2012. A high-definition remake of the orginal Fable is expected later this year with Fable Anniversary, which will also feature SmartGlass integration. Lionhead job listings from earlier this year sought online multiplayer level designers, as well as pointing toward an Unreal Engine 4-powered game. There have also been hints of an MMO-like game for next gen consoles. Former Lionhead co-founder Peter Molyneux had also theorized on the concept massive multiplayer Fable experience ... but the things that man says can be used to make a lot of games.
'Console war movie' domain names registered by Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the film production arm of the Sony conglomerate, registered a batch of domains playing off "console war movie" through brand protection company MarkMonitor. Sony Computer Entertainment, the company's gaming branch, has no fingerprints on the registrations, suggesting this to be a full-tilt movie endeavor rather than a marketing plan for the next PlayStation, as Fusible ponders.The full list of registered domains can be found below, but just to ease the shock, we'll tell you they all include the words "console war," some have "movie" and others still have the audacity to use a hyphen. The drama of war:
Microsoft obtains 'Xbox 8' domain names
Through the National Arbitration Forum, Microsoft has won the rights to a series of Xbox-related domain names formerly owned by Cheng Juan of China. The disputed domains include things like xboxcompanion.com, xboxlivetv.com, xboxphone.com, and xboxtablet.com, but also xbox8.org and xbox8.us.Microsoft was likely most interested in regaining these just to protect its own IPs – and the immediate use of things like xboxlivetv.com and xboxphone.com seem apparent.It's tempting to suspect Microsoft is eyeing "Xbox 8" as the next console name due to the two domains that reference it; however, Microsoft already began integrating Xbox Live, and the "Xbox" name, into all its consumer products, including Windows 8. Also, it would be really weird if a domain squatter guessed the name.
'Scribblenauts Unlimited' URL registered
A company that Warner Bros. uses for anonymous web registration has purchased the domain scribblenautsunlimited.com. Superannuation picked up on the filing, speculating Scribblenauts Unlimited could be developer 5th Cell's Wii U project.This wouldn't be the first time a Scribblenauts game was unveiled in this manner. Late last year a domain registration for Scribblenauts Remix ended up being an iPhone version of the wordy puzzler.
ICANN stops taking custom domain names at 7PM ET, details the TLD explosion June 13th
ICANN anticipated that we'd see the first fruits of its open season on top-level domains (TLDs) roughly a year after the hunt began; sure enough, it's winding down applications tonight. If you have the $185,000 plus $25,000 per year to make a domain your own, you've got until midnight GMT (7PM ET) to get that custom spin on the web. Don't think that you'll get the rubber stamp right away, though. ICANN plans to detail the requests on June 13th and consider any objections over similarity or multiple bids for the same name. If all goes smoothly, the first generic TLDs will be active within nine months, while those who face a fight could be waiting roughly one to two years. We're just hoping someone had the courtesy to pick up .gadget for us -- not that ICANN's worried about a gap in registrations after taking $352 million in fees and over 2,000 applications so far.
Smattering of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Vita domains registered by Sony
Hey, in case you didn't know, that Smash Bros.-esque PlayStation 3 game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, is very likely also heading to PlayStation Vita. How likely? Pretty freakin' likely, especially considering the recently discovered group of domain registrations from Sony Computer Entertainment of America tied to URLs like "PlaystationAllStarsVita.com," "PS-AllStarsVita.com," and "PSAllStarsBattleRoyaleVita.com."As with so many of these discoveries, Superannuation spotted the URLs – URLs that pretty clearly identify a Vita-based version of the brawler. We'll be saying this a lot this week, so get used to it: we've reached out to Sony for more info, but only got "we don't comment on rumor or speculation" in return. We expect more info next week during E3.
Square Enix registers domains for 'Just Cause 4' despite lack of Just Cause 3
Just in case the Just Cause series is successful enough to get a fourth entry, Square Enix wants to make sure it can employ any necessary URLs. As such, the company registered URLs in a variety of countries for "JustCause4" via URL proxy registrant Corporation Service Company, as discovered by Fusible.Neither Square Enix nor Avalance Studios have said much about the Just Cause series as of late, though Avalance studio head Christofer Sundberg told Develop in early 2010 that a third entry in the series is very likely. It's also rumored that Avalanche has been working on a Mad Max-based game; we haven't heard about that project since September 2010. Beyond Avalanche's Stockholm-based studio, the privately owned Swedish company opened a New York City office in 2011 to work on an unannounced game only known as "Project Mamba."Regardless, with just a few weeks left until E3, it's likely we'll hear more about whatever Avalanche is working on sooner, rather than later.
Netflix snags DVD.com domain, invests in the future of optical media
Looking for a shortcut to Netflix's home on the web? Try hitting up DVD.com -- it'll take you there, for now. The latest address to join the family of Netflix redirects actually brings you to a subdomain -- dvd.netflix.com -- suggesting that the company could once again be planning to split its streaming and physical media services, at least from an access perspective. A shareholder letter lists the company's U.S. DVD subscriptions at 11.17 million at the end of Q4, bringing in a total of $370 million in revenue, with a profit of $194 million. Compare this to domestic streaming, which represents $476 million in revenue with a mere $52 million profit, and it's clear that the DVD rental market is still quite strong. So what could this latest domain acquisition mean for snail mail subscribers? DVD-only customers may soon have a new site to call home, with focused content and perhaps an upsell opportunity or two. At the very least, it certainly can't hurt when it comes to SEO.
Activision registers ActivisionNews.com, trying to put us out of work
With begrudging loyalty to our duty, we have to inform you that Activision registered the domain name "ActivisionNews.com." While we'd point out that you could always get your Activision news from, say, this handy tag, it looks like Activision may be interested in serving up said news to you directly – that is, beyond social media manager Dan Amrich's current outreach.As Fusible points out, the URL doesn't resolve a site just yet, and it may never (the URL grab could be little more than a "just in case" action). We've reached out to Activision for clarification, but we're a bit worried that the answer could pop up on ActivisionNews.com first.
Final Fantasy XIII-3 gets a head start on domain-name registration
This is it -- the moment Final Fantasy XIII fans have been waiting for. The announcement of a potential announcement for the third series installment, Final Fantasy XIII-3, in the form of a domain-name registration months before XIII-2 is even released. Please, contain your excitement. Corporation Service Company registered finalfantasyxiii-3.com on September 7; Square Enix has previously used CSC to register its domains and this fits Square's modus operandi. XIII-3 hasn't yet been officially announced, but XIII-2 is expected to drop in January 2012.
Amazon snatches up Kindle related domains, Kindle Air rumors start circulating
Honestly, we're not sure what to make of all the rumors and leaks surrounding Amazon recently. It's safe to assume the company is working on a tablet, and we're long overdue for an update to E-Ink Kindle. But, a recent round of domain registrations has sent the interwebs into a tizzy with some suggesting a new product, dubbed the Kindle Air, is in the pipeline. Though Amazon's name doesn't appear anywhere in the registrant information for Kindleair.com, the name MarkMonitor does -- the firm Bezos and crew just used to register kindlesocialnetwork.com and kindlesocialnetworking.com. Now, companies pickup domains all the time just to protect their brand, and it seems a bit odd that Amazon would choose a moniker so similar to a particular sliver of aluminum and silicon out of Cupertino. Unfortunately, we'll just have to wait and see if an even lighter and thinner e-reader is on its way from the Seattle company.
'Scribblenauts Remix' domain registered by WB
WB apparently hasn't written off the Scribblenauts series, if a recent domain registration is any clue. Superannuation found a registration for the site scribblenautsremix.com. The use of the word "remix" in the potential game's title would suggest that the new game is based on material from the first two; i.e. remixed content instead of entirely original material. But we don't know more than that -- and, since that was just an extrapolation based on the title, we don't really know anything. Though we might expect more Scribblenauts, which seems like a good thing. We've typed out an email to WB to try to summon some answers.
Nintendo secures Wii U-related domain names
Nintendo went on a domain shopping spree recently, grabbing a few domain names related to Wii games (like rhythmheavenwii.com and kirbywii.com) as well as a lot of domain names related to Wii U, referencing things like New Super Mario Bros. Mii and several unannounced games and items like "Wii Zapper U," "Wii Fit U," "Wii Party U," Wii U Balance Board, and even "Wii Music U," most with variations like "Wii U Music." All redirect to nintendo.com at the moment. Check the full list after the break, as reported by Nintendo World Report. While we'd love to say that we had an early look at, like, the entire software and peripheral lineup for next year's console, this looks a lot more like Nintendo just registered everything it could think of, just in case. The duplicate registrations for name variants support this theory. Take that, thwarted domain squatters!
'Collapse' game site registered by Ignition
Domain hound superannuation has dug up pending website domain Collapse-TheGame.com, registered to Ignition Entertainment. The discovery would fit nicely with recent comments made by Ignition's Shane Bettenhausen, who told SideQuesting that there's a "99 percent chance" the company would be announcing a new project at E3. Of course, there's no evidence yet linking the so-called "Collapse" to the potential E3 reveal. Bettenhausen added that the publisher's next project "might be" for NGP and suggested that Ignition's E3 announcement was dependent on Sony's press conference plan, according to SideQuesting. Ignition's latest release, El Shaddai, was developed by its Tokyo-based studio and debuted in Japan a month ago. It's expected to be released in North America and Europe later this year. The company's recently consolidated Austin branch is said to be working on the long-delayed FPS Reich. Additionally, Ignition's website (pictured above) indicates that the publisher has "more coming soon" to reveal.
THQ registers domains for 'Metro 2033 Last Light'
The in-development sequel to Metro 2033 might not be called "Metro 2034," as we'd previously heard. Superannuation has found some domain registrations by THQ referring to something called "Metro 2033 Last Light." Though THQ does have a predilection toward "transmedia" adaptations of its game properties (and the Metro one, of course, is already adapted from the books), it seems safe to guess this title is being used for a game, since one of the registrations is "lastlightgame.com." The others include metro2033lastlight.com and metrolastlight.com. It seems most likely that the "Metro 2033 Last Light" title refers to the sequel, but there are other possibilities. Perhaps THQ is planning to use it for a downloadable Metro companion game on the order of Red Faction: Battlegrounds -- hopefully not one exactly like Red Faction: Battlegrounds.
'KinectHalo.com' domain registered by Microsoft
As if the rumor of a remade Halo: Combat Evolved in the Halo: Reach engine weren't enough, now we've got a URL registered to Microsoft from back in June of 2010 for "KinectHalo.com." Gaming Reloaded spotted the site's Whois information, which pegs the unambiguous URL as one owned by Halo franchise owner Microsoft. While it's possible that Microsoft is currently hard at work on a Halo-based Kinect title, it's also possible that the publisher is just snapping up several "just in case" URLs before virtual squatters show up. That said, given the long-term beefing up of positions at 343 Industries (Microsoft's internal Halo studio), it's certain that something is in the works over there. Though Microsoft has yet to announce anything officially, we're hoping this whole "Kinect Halo" thing is little more than a memory if and when it does. [Image credit: 'LaughPong']
Final Fantasy XIII-2 domain name registered
"Corporation Service Company" has registered the "Finalfantasy13-2game.com" domain name, according to Superannuation. The company has previously registered domains for Nier, Mindjack, and other Square Enix games, suggesting that this is also the work of Square Enix. This domain name could simply be Square Enix grabbing related names just in case, but it could also be evidence of a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII -- possibly, like Final Fantasy X-2, one built on the engine and assets from the previous, expensive game. Of course, unlike Final Fantasy X, the Final Fantasy XIII "franchise" is already somewhat crowded, with Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII on the way sometime before the end of the universe. Square is holding a "1st Production Party Premiere Event" in Japan on January 18, so if there really is a new Final Fantasy to announce, we'll likely hear about it, and any costume-change-based fighting it may contain, then. [Thanks, Vallanthaz]
Bungie web domains, copyright filings discovered for 'Seven Seraphs,' 'Osiris,' 'New Monarchy,' and 'Dead Orbit'
This past summer, while we were busy jamming to Beach Boys classics and getting our tan on, Bungie was secretly filing copyright claims for a handful of previously unheard phrases and associating web domains with each. "Seven Seraphs," "Osiris," "New Monarchy," and "Dead Orbit" were all copyrighted by the developer, and domain registrations have been spotted. Like the previous "Bungie Aerospace" domain registration, a third-party company was paid to handle the paperwork, lest a paper trail lead back to Bungie (ahem). Supererogatory discovered the domain registrations and copyright filings, and noted that while the phrase's descriptions denote them as "artwork," that description can also include "all sorts of promotional and marketing, like logos." Perhaps logos for that super secret Activision project (the one that might have a persistent world)? We just don't know (yet).
