Activision has recently received heavy flak from musical instrument manufacturer Gibson Guitar Corporation due to the patent violation lawsuit filed by the latter against the video game company.

If you’ve read our previous coverage on the issue, you’ll know that the nature of the complaint was tied to Activision’s supposed infringement of Gibson’s patent for a guitar shaped controller used to play in time with notes on a TV screen. Sounds rather familiar doesn’t it?

Activision was rather cool about the situation and gave its own statement regarding the matter:

Gibson s lawsuit is a transparent end run around an impartial court that Activision asked on March 11 to rule on patent assertions that Gibson knows have no merit. Our Guitar Hero retailing partners have done nothing wrong. We’ll confront this and any other efforts by Gibson to wrongfully interfere with Activision’s relationship with its customers and its consumers.

A licensing agreement was filed prior to the lawsuit regarding the replication of Gibson’s guitar designs for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360, Wii,

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Stan Lee’s true believers and gaming fans in general will be happy to know that upcoming Sega offering Iron Man

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Chicago-based Publisher Midway Games Inc. has announced that Senior VP of worldwide studios Matthew Booty has stepped up as their Interim CEO and President. This comes after the resignation of former CEO David Zucker.

The development comes after months of seeming troubles for the third-party game maker. Reorganization, reception of game titles, and resignation of marquee-name personnel have plagued the company from 2007 up to presstime.

“The board is confident that a new CEO will be selected who can fully utilise the opportunities presented by this next-generation console cycle to renew Midway’s position as a major player in the video game industry,” said the company in a press release.

Zucker’s departure and Booty’s ascent to CEO status looks amicable and professional as of now, but it can be remembered that previous Midway resignations haven’t been as sweet. Director Harvey Smith, for instance, left Midway Austin on a sour note, bashing the publisher for matters that transpired in the development of BlackSite: Area 51(PC, Xbox 360, PS3).

It can also be noted that the latest financial results from Midway have not been too spectacular. The company is optimistic about 2008, and has set up plans to strengthen its market position using a new credit scheme. How all this plays out remains to be seen.

source pc.qj.net

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Electronic Arts has expressed certainty that its anticipated RTS Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC) will be in store shelves this coming holiday season. They also revealed a juicy little detail about a familiar name in the series whom everyone should be more than happy to see.

Producer Chris Corry talked to Eurogamer about their project and confirmed that Red Alert 3 will indeed be ready by year’s end. He also put a lock on the notion that old friend Tanya Adams will come back to kick ass for the Allies.

Tanya will be up to her old tricks, blowing up buildings and sharp-shooting enemy infantry. In addition, she’ll also get a dandy little Time Belt which will enable her to warp back to a specific time point to restore her health and position.

Corry, however, did not reveal much about the new Japanese faction better known as the Empire of the Rising Sun. He did say, however, that the beta is only “the tip of the iceberg” compared to what’s in store when the full game hits.

Personal computer gamers will have a nice sneak peek on the action when they purchase Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath. The Beta disc for Red Alert 3 is included in the package. Console gamers, however, will have to wait a bit more to get their demos as EA has not commented on that subject just yet.

source pc.qj.net

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What’s even greater than playing virtual soccer? Well, it’s actually beating your opponents in the game and then celebrating it at that exact moment. That’s exactly what you guys can do with EA’s UEFA Euro 2008’s (Personal computer, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP) user controlled parties.

That’s right. You guys can definitely customize that way you bask in glory upon achieving victory. Given this, you might be wondering just how was this made possible. Well, the developers shared this information through a blog. They mentioned that they were able to do such a feat through motion capture.

Once they were finally able to record and examine all the data they got from the motion capture, they coded the data into the game. As a result, players will have the chance to do various celebratory actions, ranging from the “airplane”, to “blowing kisses” and the fingers to the lips “Shhhhh” moment.

Well, if you guys want to learn more about the user controlled celebrations found in the game, feel free to visit the link below. Don’t forget to come back to QJ for more news and updates.

source pc.qj.net

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