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Featured News Video Games

Microsoft may not like “Xbone” nickname, but they just acquired Xbone.com

Xbox One

Major Nelson may not like the idea of the Xbox One being nicknamed the “Xbone”, but that hasn’t stopped the company from acquiring the domain name Xbone.com.

According to the latest WHOIS records, Microsoft Corporation is the name’s new owner.

While it’s only speculation, it’s very possible the domain’s previous owner got an undisclosed amount of cash from Microsoft.  And considering all the recent buzz this week, it probably wasn’t a small amount.

Earlier this week, Larry Hryb (the Director of Programming for the Microsoft gaming network Xbox Live), posted a message on NeoGAF saying the nickname, “…disrespects the teams that have put in thousands of hours (already) into the development of the product. Sure, it’s cheeky but I don’t care for it myself.”

No domain dispute was ever filed by Microsoft against the owner of Xbone.com and even if it had been, there’s no guarantee the company would have won.

In July, Microsoft’s lawyers took ownership of the domain names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net after filing a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF).

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(Image via Xbox.com)

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Featured News Video Games

Google Cache reveals info on Ubisoft’s next-gen game Fighter Within [UPDATED]

Fighter Within

Just a few days ago, newly discovered domain registrations hinted at a next-gen game by Ubisoft called Fighter Within.  Not much was known about the game at the time, except for the domain names and the fact they redirected visitors to a “Coming Soon” page on Ubisoft’s official website.

Thanks to Google Cache, a snapshot of the official website was stored on August 16, revealing several details about the game, which promises to provide users the excitement of a real fight and will be offered on the Xbox One and take advantage of the Kinect technology.  Ubisoft has since pulled the website, but not before Google Cache snagged a copy.

Ubisoft is expected to officially unveil the game at Gamescom in a matter of days, but here’s what we now know about Fighter Within based on text taken from the cached page.

Fighter Within Official Website Google Search result

Unleash your inner Fighter

Discover FIGHTER WITHIN, the next-gen game that provides you the excitement of a real fight, throwing you into the most immersive total-body combat experience ever made. Enter a world of sweat, timing and training thanks to kick-ass motion recognition. Brawling with your friends will never feel the same again.

Earn your bragging rights over your friends

True friends don’t pull their punches. Let off some steam and earn your bragging rights over your best mates in ultra-raw fighting sessions. New Kinect allows you to invite and defy your friends over a good fight right in your living room.

Unleash your inner fighter to beat your friends with your bare knuckles.

Discover FIGHTER WITHIN, the next-gen game that provides you the excitement of a real fight, throwing you into the most immersive total-body combat experience ever made.

Test your real fighting skills thanks to the next gen of motion recognition. The new Kinect technology arms FIGHTER WITHIN with realistic fighting moves using unprecedented 1 to 1 precision movement tracking.

Enter a brutal, physical and liberating world: New-gen jaw-dropping graphics, real-time wounds, sweat & facial impacts, extreme arenas environments, primal animations… The new XBOX ONE Kinect allows you to dive into a unique realistic experience and feel the fight. All you expect from a next gen fighting game is there.

Enter a world of sweat, timing and training. Brawling with your friends will never feel the same again.

Earn your bragging rights over your friends by proving your real fighting skills!

True friends don’t pull their punches: Let off some steam and earn your bragging rights over your best mates in ultra-raw fighting sessions. New Kinect’s power dramatically improves the multiplayer experience, allowing you to invite and defy your friends over a good fight right in your living room, or to compete online against the world to become the ultimate fighter.

Reveal your abilities: Kicks, punches, counters, throws, combos, special moves, everything you expect from a fighting game is there: Execute precise and amazing combos thanks to the new Kinect and use the huge diversity of gameplay to choose between core combat or special attacks to destroy your opponents.

Think first, hit after: Skills are not enough to win a match, superior fighting tactics will give you the upper hand. Use your surroundings to your advantage, collect totems and position them wisely in the arena to power up your attacks, choose the right moves and signature attacks that will undermine your rival and finish him off with a devastating final blow.

More content coming soon

***

Unfortunately, no screenshots are available just yet.  Ubisoft removed the images.

You can see a screenshot of the full page here.

UPDATE 4 August 20, 2013: Fighter Within screenshots have been revealed.

Fighter WIthin

UPDATE 3 August 20, 2013: The Fighter Within trailer has been released.

UPDATE 2 August 20, 2013:  The leaked video is again available (H/T thesixthaxis)

۞ by AGBLeaks

UPDATE 1 August 20, 2013: 
The first gameplay footage of Fighter Within has been leaked by VentureBeat (via Gamepur). Unfortunately, the video is now unavailable.  I took a screenshot of the video before it was marked private.

Fighter Within gameplay footage

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Disputes Featured News Video Games WIPO

Take-Two quickly takes control of GTAV.com domain name following complaint

Grand Theft Auto V

Well that was quick.  Just over a week ago, Take-Two filed a domain dispute against the owner of GTAV.com with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Though decisions can take up to several months to be reached, it appears the previous registrant handed over the name to Take-Two ahead of a ruling.

According to WHOIS records, Rockstar Games has become the new owner of the domain name within the last 24 hours.  And the timing couldn’t have been better for gaming company Rockstar Games, as Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) is due out for release very soon. Here’s a look at the GTAV.com WHOIS record:

WHOIS record for GTAV.com

It’s entirely possible Take-Two shelled out some cash to get the name, but chances are we’ll never know the back story since the complaint will likely end up being officially withdrawn in the next few days.

At the time of this story, the case still shows active on WIPO’s website.

On August 15 August 2013, the first official gameplay video for the multiplayer feature of the game was released.

You can watch the video below to see what all the buzz is about.

(Image of Grand Theft Auto V via RockstarGames.com)

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Featured News Video Games

Ubisoft’s new next-gen IP may be called “Fighter Within”, domains registered [UPDATED]

Ubisoft: Fighter Within

Video game company Ubisoft appears to be up to something.

Judging by changes to some domain names, the company looks to have registered Fighter-Within.com earlier this week and also secretly registered the name FighterWithinGame.com back in June.  Both names were registered using Go Daddy’s proxy service.

While the proxy service makes the true registrant of the names unknown, both names redirect users to a “Coming Soon” page on ubi.com: http://fighter-within.ubi.com/fighter-within/en-US/

No official announcement has been made by Ubisoft regarding “Fighter Within”, however, Ubisoft recently said it would “share details on a new next-gen IP currently in development” at the upcoming Gamescom which takes place August 21-25.

With less than a week until Gamescom, we should know soon what plans are in store for “Fighter Within”.

UPDATE 1 August 18, 2013: More information has been revealed about “Fighter Within”.  A snapshot of the official website (before it was taken down by Ubisoft) was stored on Google Cache.

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Disputes Featured News Video Games WIPO

Take-Two goes after GTAV.com domain name, files dispute with WIPO [UPDATED]

Grand Theft Auto V screen

With the release of the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto V fast approaching, Take-Two has been aggressively going after fake beta websites like gta5betacode.com by filing complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Since the beginning of the year, the video game company has filed more than two dozen disputes, and so far, every decision that has been issued by a panel has gone in the company’s favor.

Riding a wave of success, the company has now set its sights on the four-letter domain GTAV.com, which is currently registered to a resident of Spain according to WHOIS records.

Case Number D2013-1382 popped up on WIPO’s website earlier today.

At the time of this posting, GTAV.com redirects users to the official Grand Theft Auto V website located at: http://www.rockstargames.com/V/.

As late as February of this year, however, GTAV.com was a blog centered on the upcoming video game.  According to screenshots.com, the site had been online since March 2012.

Below is a screenshot of the blog from February 2013.

GTAV blog

This dispute may or may not be a win for Take-Two.

The current registrant has had the name since at least 2008 according to WHOIS history.

And as the recent case of WiiU.com shows, it’s no slam dunk.

UPDATE 1 August 16, 2013: Take-Two has taken control of the GTAV.com domain name.

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(Image of GTA V via RockstarGames.com)