Gamertell

What Activision does in the wake of retailers breaking street date on what may be the biggest game launch of all time will surely impact the future of the “street date” concept.

We play this little game every time a major release comes out. Somebody, or several somebodies, start selling it early by “accident.”

This time, though, GameStop execs believe people were doing it on purpose to get some sales over on the mega retailer. As GameStop’s empire expands, it’s getting harder and harder for companies to take the giant’s knees out from under it legitimately.

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As a Reuters story notes, there is big business in history for the game industry. One of this year’s most anticipated titles, Assassin’s Creed II, sees the game’s hero interact with a young Leonardo da Vinci and use his design for a flying machine.

The first Assassin’s Creed was set during the Crusades and, of course, there are probably more World War II games on shelves than there were actual battles in the war.

Upcoming game The Saboteur is loosely based on the real life story of Wiliam Grover-Williams,  who worked with the British Special Operations Executive in the hopes of liberating France. Grover-Williams was executed for his undercover work but, in the game, your character lives to help free France from the Nazis.

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The punishments for the undercover officers caught Wii Bowling during a March 6, 2009, drug raid have been handed down. And they’re not so punishing.

The Lakeland Ledger reports that 11 members of the multiagency task force were found at fault.

Undercover detectives received a letter of retraining and are required to undergo two hours of retraining. The sergeants who supervised and didn’t stop detectives from virtual bowling got a letter of guidance and must undergo four hours of retraining.

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Gearbox Software creative director Mike Neumann confirmed there will likely be a sequel to surprise hit Borderlands.

In an interview with VG247, Neumann spoke about the strong sales of the title:

“Yes, I can probably confirm that there’s a chance of a Borderlands 2. I mean, with anything, especially a new IP, if people want more and you can make more, and everybody can make money and do good business there, it obviously makes really good sense to do that. Obviously nothing so far is planned. We’re working on DLC. We haven’t really had any talks about a sequel, other than water cooler talk like, “Wouldn’t this be cool” kind of stuff.

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Street date, schmeet date.

It should probably not come as a surprise that some retailers decided to break the November 10, 2009, street date on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The events that transpired afterward are definitely worth noting, though.

GameStop contacted COD publisher Activision regarding retailers breaking the street date. These conversations led to the retailer deciding to break street date in areas where other retailers had already done so.

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Eric Hawkins robbed Bremerton Key Bank in 2006, getting away with $12,000 but also bringing along a dye pack that went off after the crime.

Somehow Hawkins managed to escape capture until earlier this year. As the following exploits prove, we can’t blame his criminal mastermind abilities for him evading capture.

Thinking he had gotten completely away with it,  Hawkins decided using the dye-stained cash to buy video games wouldn’t raise any suspicion. He guessed wrong, as Bremerton authorities tracked down “Gerald Lewis” (the alias Hawkins was using when spending the money) earlier this year.

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Video game movies usually tend to be well, awful. (Super Mario Bros or Dead or Alive, anyone?)

So it was with much skepticism that I’ve been following news regarding a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time movie.

After having seen the first trailer, I am convinced this film will be worth seeing. One of the first obstacles to a decent movie, game based or otherwise is the budget. With Walt Disney Studios considerable resources behind the production, there are no problems there, putting Jerry Bruckheimer and an all-star cast in place. The quality of the special effects show that no money is no object.

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When Midway filed bankruptcy, one of the potentially lucrative licenses it had was the right to make games based on TNA Wrestling. When Warner Bros. bought the company it picked up the rights to several Midway games but PWInsider said the TNA game wasn’t one of them.

PWInsider’s TNA sources said the rights may bounce back to TNA since Warner Bros. wasn’t interested in purchasing them. TNA officials won’t comment on what, if anything, is happening with the game. TNA Impact sold one million units with reviews being just so-so.

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EA’s Madden franchise often comes under fire for a perceived lack of innovation but here’s a feature that certainly promises some unique wrinkles.

Madden NFL 10 will soon contain a game mode that will combine elements of fantasy football and trading card gaming.

Madden Ultimate Team is a free downloadable addition on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network coming January 2010. In this game players will collect virtual packs of cards ranging from “platinum” to “bronze.”

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New Super Mario Bros. Wii has the potential to be the biggest title of the year on Nintendo’s console and Amazon is offering $10 off a future game purchase if purchase the game through them.

New Super Mario Bros Wii is not just a straight port of the classic platformer. New features include two Toads as playable characters in addition to Mario and Luigi and the ability to ride Yoshi characters. Multiplayer mode includes 2- to 4-player options and Mario can now transform into Penguin Mario.

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