Former Infinity Ward heads create new studio

Yesterday an interesting but not surprising move happened in the Activision vs Infinity Ward story. "Jason West and Vince Zampella, creators of the multi-billion dollar Call of Duty® franchise, announced the formation of a new development studio -- Respawn Entertainment." and they have "awarded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), through the distinguished EA Partners program, exclusive worldwide publishing and distribution rights to future games." This is great news for all Call of Duty fans because it looks like the same people who made Modern Warfare 2 will be making new games which should be just as good and running on some better managed servers.

Despite the fact that this is no real surprise, what really bugs me is that West and Zampella would have the guts to do this in the middle of one of the biggest lawsuits. By defecting to EA and making their own studio they are only going to get Activision madder and make the situation a whole lot worse for themselves and the embattled Infinity Ward. If I were them I would have waited until the situation blew over and the court case resolved before making such a shocking and bold move as this.

If you still aren't sure what has been going on then take a look at the links below and if you want to have a say then use the chat box ion the left column or comment on this post.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Activision Countersues Modern Warfare 2 Execs (games.slashdot.org)
• Ex-Infinity Ward heads create Respawn Entertainment with EA (arstechnica.com)
• 'Modern Warfare' Creators Change Sides (online.wsj.com)
• Former Infinity Ward Heads Form Respawn Entertainment (1up.com)

Why iPhone OS 4.0 should have come sooner

This wwek Apple unveiled iPhone OS 4.0 to teh developer community. This major OS upgrade includes many new features such as multitasking, app folders, iAd (in-app advertising) and even 5x digital zoom. All these features are what iPhone and iPod Touch users have wanted ever since the first generation devices. SO why couldn't Apple have done this sooner, like with OS 3.0? As far as I can see there is no reason.
Yes there were hardware constraints when it came to the iPhone 3G but the 3GS had better hardware and more to the point will be able to run OS 4.0 in all it's awesomeness.

Apple could have released all these features with OS 3.0 because the latest hardware, the iPhone 3GS had the capability to run it but Apple wanted to focus on speed and not on features that would attracts people away from Android and Windows Mobile and give them incentives to make the switch. Instead what Apple chooses to do is announce these features at an awkward time when people aren't really paying attention to the smaller devices and focusing on the iPad. If Apple really cared about their customers they would have released these features with OS 3.0 but instead they want to give customers much needed and wanted features when nobody gives a crap.

If Apple is serious about business then they will forget about advertising and instead focus on what they have always focused on...the customers.

Internet memes - Why the fads need to stop

Everyone has heard of Internet memes. From rickrolling to just about anything that comes out of 4chan these have become a culture phenomenon. However, have these jokes become too much of a good thing?

 Some of these memes like Rickrolling have had their time yet still continue to be seen all over the internet. These memes become old quickly yet resurface in obscure in lame ways. People get greatly annoyed when thgey get rickrolled and people get annoyed when they see another internet meme. Not everyone who uses the internet thinks that a meme is a funny as you think it to be. Some internet users are actually lookign for related items and do not not to be tricked into seeing a meme.

Basically, these memes need to stop or at least they need to stop being so prevalent, so if you see a meme that is just starting off try to put a stop to it. By doing this you will be saving the credibility of the internet