Activision Turned Infinity Ward into a Police State: You Buy It?

According to Kotaku, 40 past and present Infinity Ward employees have filed suit against Activision for a slew of reasons, including turning the work environment into a “police state”. Here’s my favorite passage from the article:

The suit says that had Activision not fired West and Zampella, withheld the bonus, created a hostile work place, not created a “police state-like atmosphere” they would have stayed on with the publisher.

I’m sure things were bad at Infinity Ward, but calling it a police state is ridiculous. Do these guys and gals know what it’s like to live in North Korea? I’ve avoided writing about the Activision/Infinity Ward issue because I really don’t think it’s that interesting and the enthusiast press has presented an overblown description of the situation. The “police state” line cracked me up though. No matter how bad it was, I’m positive it was nothing like living in communist Cuba.

What do you think of the situation? Do you think it was police-state bad? Do you care? Do you want more stories on this? Or can I happily ignore it?

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Watch the Super Street Fighter IV Finals of Evo 2010

Here’s a clip of the Evo 2010 finals in Super Street Fighter IV between Daigo and Ricky Ortiz. It’s just an awesome, awesome match between two incredibly skilled players. It’s humbling to watch Street Fighter IV played at a tournament level. Both of these guys are brilliant. Who won?!? Watch the video and find out!

New Darkstalkers Game to be Announced at Comic-Con 2010?

Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono is set to announce a new game at San Diego Comic-Con 2010. While his panel, “SSFIV and Beyond!“, only mentions Street Fighter, Shacknews‘ Brian Leahy believes that Ono will announce a new installment in another popular Capcom franchise:

The official description for the panel is limited to the Street Fighter franchise, but it is strongly rumored to be a new Darkstalkers game.

Ah, I miss the days of beating the crap out of Leahy in Street Fighter IV when we were both at G4tv. Back to the point, I would love a new Darkstalkers game! How about you? It’s a super-fun franchise with cool characters. Plus, Felicia and Morrigan are totally hot. (Is that weird?)

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Google Aims to Make Android Development Easy with App Inventor

Google’s App Inventor for Android is an interesting initiative that aims to make development ridiculously easy. Using a simple visual tool, App Inventor requires no programming knowledge at all. Check out the video above to see how easy it is to use. App Inventor will certainly lead to a ton of garbage, but I’m sure there will be some gems created with or at least started with these tools.

Let me know what you think of App Inventor when you have a moment. Any of you interested in playing with it? Maybe you could make an RPad.tv app or game. That would rule!

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RIM Posts a Completely Unimpressive BlackBerry OS 6 Video

RIM has posted another teaser video for BlackBerry OS 6…and I’m reminded of the immortal words of Sean Connery in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, “I’m waiting to be impressed.” I don’t see how this is supposed to excite anyone that has a basic knowledge of Apple iOS, Google Android, or Palm WebOS.

Perhaps I’m missing something. What do you think of the clip? Is there anything there that’s the least bit exciting or interesting?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

There are pretty two games coming out this week. First up is NCAA Football 11 on multiple platforms. More importantly, Dragon Quest IX for Nintendo DS is here! I’m super looking forward to playing this. While Dragon Quest isn’t as popular in America as its sister franchise, Final Fantasy, it has a huge following in Japan. Sure, it doesn’t have Reona Rewis, but I’m expecting to dig this game as much or more than Final Fantasy XIII.

Any of you planning to pick up new games this week? List ’em (please)!

Ed Smashed: Edward Norton Out as Hulk in Avengers Movie

The Avengers movie will have one last star as Edward Norton will not be reprising his role as the Incredible Hulk. In a scathing statement, Marvel Studios president of production Ken Feige said:

Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H., Chris E., Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks.

Given Norton’s creative issues with the last Hulk movie, this is hardly surprising. For all of his amazing talent, Norton can be a giant pain in the ass to deal with. The good news is that Chris Evans has one less incredibly talented actor to upstage him.

How do you feel about Norton being booted as the Hulk? Any suggestions for a replacement?

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Coffee Talk #176: Your Favorite Heel Turns

Last week LeBron James pulled off one of the most thorough heel turns in the history of heel turns. He went from a basketball player that was loved by some and liked by most to one of the most hated people in the NBA. One of Bill Simmons’ readers compared it to Hulk Hogan’s heel turn at Bash at the Beach ’96. It’s a funny analogy, but it totally works. James’ heel turn is so unbelievable that it could pass for a WWE storyline. I’m pretty sure halfway through the season, Pat Riley is going to take out Erik Spoelstra with a steel chair, spray paint his back, and take over as head coach.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the World Cup finals, Jesse Jackson accusing Dan Gilbert of seeing LeBron James as a “runaway slave”, or BP’s efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Last week LeBron James pulled off one of the most thorough heel turns in the history of heel turns. He went from a basketball player that was loved by some and liked by most to one of the most hated people in the NBA. One of Bill Simmons’ readers compared it to Hulk Hogan’s heel turn at Bash at the Beach ’96. It’s a funny analogy, but it totally works. James’ heel turn is so unbelievable that it could pass for a WWE storyline. I’m pretty sure halfway through the season, Pat Riley is going to take out Erik Spoelstra with a steel chair, spray paint his back, and take over as head coach.

What are some of your favorite heel turns? Whether they’re from WWE shows, sports, videogame storylines, or real life, betrayals are powerful things. From Cain betraying Abel to LeBron betraying his hometown franchise, I want to know what some of your favorite heel turns in history are.

Austin Aries, Claudio Castagnoli, and Paul London in WWE Game

A friend notified me that my IMDB listing has been updated to include my writing credits for SmackDown vs. Raw 2011. Naturally, I went ahead and perused the listing. I was surprised to see that the motion-capture actors were listed. The entry noted that former WWE Superstar Paul London, my friend Austin Aries, and my favorite wrestler Claudio Castagnoli did mo-cap work for the game. This surprised me since I didn’t think that THQ and WWE would want the world to know that indie wrestlers were doing the in-game moves for current WWE talent.

According to IMDB, Aries did the mo-cap work for Evan Bourne, Chris Jericho, and Santino Marella. London portrayed Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston. Castagnoli donned the capture suit for Edge and Jack Swagger.

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R.I.P. Bob Sheppard, Voice of the NY Yankees

Longtime New York Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard passed away today at 99. He was the voice of Yankee Stadium since 1951, announcing legends like Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto. He announced games until 2007, introducing fans to current Yankee greats like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Jeter still uses a recording of Sheppard’s voice for his at-bats.

While most stadium announcers for most sports use an in-your-face style, the Yankees stayed with Sheppard’s classic announcing for decades. He added a classy and dignified air to Yankee Stadium. I’ve attended dozens of games with Sheppard on the mic. I haven’t been back to New York for baseball season in years. It’s definitely going to be weird going to a Yankee game and not hearing his voice. I hope that Jeter will continue to use Sheppard for his at-bats. I definitely want to catch a game before he retires and to hear the “Voice of the Yankees” one more time.

There have been so many Yankee legends over the years and so many of them have been introduced by Bob Sheppard. He became such an integral part of Yankee games and Yankee history that he ended becoming a legend himself. Rest in peace Bob Sheppard. You will be missed.