Zampella And West To Go To Court In May

Infinity Ward Co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella will finally get their day in court to fight against part-time Call of Duty publisher Activison. The trial is set for May 7th, 2012 in Los Angeles. 

Infinity Ward created the first Call of Duty game for PC, and has created a many other Call of Duty games in staggered releases, Including the Modern Warfare series, along with Treyarch. The duo are suing Activision for fraud, saying they were defrauded when Activision fired them before any royalties were paid for the creation and massive success of Modern Warfare.

On top of the payments, they seek to have an annulment of the original exclusivity contract, so that they may develop new Call of Duty games under their new company, Respawn Entertainment. 

Source: Gamasutra

Guy With Asperger's Sues Microsoft For $500 Billion

Castrum - Lulz:

Some cletus down in Arkansas opines that Microsoft has to pay him $500 billion because it didn't answer, in writing, a mailing designed to not get a written response to his demands for $500 billion.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is your source for all the fun, courtesy of a federal civil complaint filed Monday by one David Stebbins. His grounds for suing is a technicality about the nature of the Xbox Live terms of service. He argues that he is allowed to unilaterally amend the TOS unless Microsoft rejects his terms in writing.

The new terms? Something about he gets paid $500 billion if they don't like the old terms.

Stebbins actually admits to the P-I that his notice to Microsoft was designed to not attract their attention and to go unanswered. "When I mail these documents to Microsoft, they won't go to any legal division; I arranged for the mailings to be picked up by the employee that just collects regular mail! It's quite possible that these employees won't understand the legal significance of these documents, and know that they're required to respond."

... 

It's enough to know he's tried this bullshit in other venues, too. And, also, that he claims to have Asperger's syndrome, which is the go-to punchline for many an internet troll. I'm sure his agoraphobia will keep him from showing up in court, too.

http://kotaku.com/5832918/xbox-live-trolled-for-625000000000-microsoft-points-in-federal-court

Nintendo Tells North America To Take It Like A Bitch

Castrum - Nintendo once again proves why hardcore gamers hate them so much:  

The games some American Wii owners have been pleading with Nintendo to release in the United States are finally being translated to English and released... in Europe.

In a body blow as devastating to American Wii loyalists as the one that floored King Hippo, Nintendo of Europe announced today that they'll follow up the European August release of role-playing game Xenoblade Chronicles with 2012 releases of action game Pandora's Tower and acclaimed (from-the-father-of-Final-Fantasy) RPG The Last Story.

All three games were made and released in Japan. All three are thought to be pretty good. All three have not been released in America, despite fan pleas, petitions and a letter-writing campaign that involved sending meat to Nintendo of America headquarters.

http://kotaku.com/5831815/nintendo-of-america-you-are-really-smart-or-mean

Man Who Stole PSP From Injured Student Caught By Police

MjolnirX - The gentleman asshole who assisted Malaysian student Ashraf Haziq minutes after having his jaw broken during the height of the London Riots, who then proceeded to arrogantly steal his PSP right out of his backpack, has been caught by Metropolitan Police.

First, Sony pledged to replace the stolen PSP, then Namco Bandai offered to throw in a few games as well, on a website dedicated to helping people who suffered in various ways during the London Riots. Now the guy who added insult to injury to the situation is getting his just desserts. The news could hardly be sweeter, though it's still a damn shame this ever happened in the first place.

Metropolitan police have released the identity of the coward: Reece Donovan of Romford. He is being charged with robbery for the theft of the PSP, thanks mostly to the citizen who filmed the incident as it happened. I can only imagine the public embarrassment this man will receive and what repercussions this will have on his personal and professional life.

Classy.

Bethesda Servers Hacked (Again)

MjolnirX - Bethesda has possibly been the target of hackers. Again (maybe). Earlier today, they reported a security breach on their forums, and as a precaution they pre-emptively reset everyone's passwords to avoid any fraudulent activities. This is reminiscent of a similar hack back in June when hackers stole information including usernames and passwords.

To be honest, I'm surprised Anonymous is still doing this. On that same note, given all that has happened recently with regards to website hacks, if sites aren't prepared for stuff like this to happen, then this is the end result.

Your Money Supports Kim Jong-Il

Castrum - So, lacking any other method of generating money in the god-forsaken shithole that is North Korea, Kim Jong-Il has decided to be "ress ronery" and engage in MMO Gold Farming to pay off his debts:

Last week, The New York Times reported that the totally badass-named North Korean agency "Office 39" was attached to an effort in South Korea that breached the servers for South Korean MMOs Lineage and Dungeon and Fighter, leaving it vulnerable to gold-farming bots. The North allegedly pocketed $3 million, which was put into a slush fund that buys KJ's Eric Clapton records, NBA memorabilia, and weapons of mass destruction.

http://kotaku.com/5830727/north-korean-gold+farming-allegations-officially-denied-by-official-north-korean-news