Category: News

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News Video Games

Creative agency for Microsoft registers Halo 4 Remix, Halo Remix domains

Halo 4 remix

It looks like a promotion or online contest for Halo 4, set for a worldwide release on November 6, 2012, may be on the way.  Roundhouse, a creative agency based in Seattle, WA, who counts among its clients Microsoft, has registered the domain names Halo4remix.com and Haloremix.com.

Roundhouse handles social media work for Xbox, but has yet to reveal what it plans to do with Halo 4 Remix.

Roundhouse has been responsible for several Xbox-related initiatives like last year’s Halo Reach contest.  That contest involved using the forge tool within Halo to assemble and create a work of art using pieces, textures, and other available materials that represent the Halo Universe.

Both domains, Halo4remix.com (Whois) and Haloremix.com (Whois), were registered by Roundhouse’s operations manager Sylvia Nikes on May 30, 2012, only days before the kick off of E3 2012.

At the time of this story, both domain names resolve to a parked page.

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News Trademarks Video Games

ZeniMax Media files trademark for “Hearthfire” computer game software

Hearth Fire

Trademark applications keep rolling in.  Earlier this month, ZeniMax Media filed a trademark application for Dragonborn.  In April, the company filed for the dragon shout “Fus Ro Dah”.  Now, the company has submitted a new trademark application (Serial Number: 85634522) covering computer game software with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for “Hearthfire”.

“Hearthfire” appears to be a reference to the skill book “2920, vol 09 – Hearth Fire” in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Skill books reward players with bonuses.  Hearth Fire is a conjuration skill book and is part of the twelve volume 2920 books.  The conjuration skill allows you to summon creatures from the dead or concoct ethereal weapons from soul energy.

Hearthfire is also the ninth of the 12 seasons in the Elder Scrolls universe.

The trademark application just appeared on the website of the USPTO today, and was originally filed on May 24, 2012.

At this point, it’s unknown whether Hearthfire will be for a new Skyrim DLC, a new video game, or something else.

Bethesda has made no official announcement as of yet.

Talking about this story:  VG247, Joystiq, The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, Meristation, Game Informer, IGN, GameDynamo, Push Square, Blue’s News, OnlineWelten.com, Strategy Informer, We Got This Covered, Exophase, Ubergizmo, Cinema Blend, Destructoid, Xbox 360 Achievements and NowGamer

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News Technology

Is Google going to introduce Google Plus Stories? Maybe, according to domains

Google Plus Stories

Last November, Twitter introduced Twitter Stories, which allows users to share how they used the social media platform in an interesting way.  Facebook launched its own Facebook Stories application back in 2010.  Now, Google has registered the domain GooglePlusStories.com, hinting that it may roll out its own user testimonial campaign to showcase how people are using its Google Plus social networking tool.

On May 24, 2012, Google Inc. registered the domain names gplusstories.com (Whois) and googleplusstories.com (Whois) through the online brand protection company MarkMonitor.

It’s unsure what exactly Google will publish on its own Stories site, should it launch one.

Twitter’s site highlights tweets which gained noticeable attention, like the story of one user who wrote a book, found an agent, got published and landed a movie deal using Twitter every step of the way.  Or how one user inadvertently live-tweeted the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound.

Whereas Facebook and Twitter users have been credited with helping to topple dictators, Google+ is still relatively new to the social arena.

Still, there have been notable stories.  In February, Agence France Presse reported hundreds of Chinese flooded President Obama’s Google+ page, apparently taking advantage of a glitch in China’s censorship system to post about human rights and green cards.

At the time of this posting, neither domain resolves to a web page and Google has made no official announcement regarding Google+ Stories.

Talking about this story: Marketing Land

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Video Games

Ahead of rumored E3 reveal, Microsoft goes after XboxMusic.com [UPDATED]

Xbox Music E3 reveal

UPDATE 1 July 5, 2012:. Microsoft has won the domain dispute for XboxMusic.com.  A National Arbitration Forum panel has ordered the domain name transferred from Wang Shiguo to Microsoft Corporation.

ORIGINAL STORY:. Last month, The Verge reported that Microsoft will offer a sneak peek at its Zune replacement (codenamed “Woodstock”) during E3 2012.

With E3 right around the corner, it appears Microsoft is somewhat planning ahead of its new Xbox Music service reveal, by filing a complaint (Case Number 1445087) with the National Arbitration Forum over the domain name XboxMusic.com.

The domain name dispute proceedings commenced this week along with a separate case over xbox8.org, xboxcompanion.com, xboxlivetv.com, xboxphone.com, and xboxtablet.com.

Microsoft Corporation also filed another complaint (Case Number: 1445084) against the owner of xbox8.us which currently hosts a Chinese-written blog that even discusses the xbox8.org domain dispute.

Xboxmusic.com (Whois) does not resolve to a web page at the time of this story.

Insiders told The Verge, “Woodstock will be a cross-platform play, available to Windows 8, Android, iOS, and Xbox users — playable from a browser”.

(Image of E3 2011 via Xbox.com)

Categories
News

Facebook registers Studio Edge domains on the same day of Camera App launch

Facebook Studio Edge

Facebook Studio Edge

Facebook just introduced Camera, a new mobile app that makes using Facebook photos faster and easier.  And on the very same day of the announcement, it appears Facebook privately registered Facebook Studio Edge domain names like FacebookStudioEdge.com.

On May 24, 2012, the dotcom, dotnet and dotorg versions of the names were registered through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, of which Facebook is a client.

http://whois.domaintools.com/facebookstudioedge.org
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebookstudioedge.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebookstudioedge.com

The owner is hidden behind MarkMonitor’s privacy service DNStination, so there is a slight chance Facebook isn’t behind the names.  But considering MarkMonitor’s trackrecord with Facebook, it is unlikely anyone else.

At the time of this story’s posting, none of the domains resolve to a web page and Facebook has made no official announcement about Facebook Studio Edge.

Last year, Facebook launched a stand-alone website called Facebook Studio (facebook-studio.com), a platform aimed at agencies, PR firms and media strategy companies.

Update:  Robin Wauters has done a little digging and discovered Facebook Studio Edge is nothing more a than day long course in best-practice marketing on Facebook.

Talking about this story: The Next Web, Marketing Land and All Facebook

(Image of camera app via fb.com)