Category: Video Games

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Movies News Video Games

Sony Pictures registers a slew of ‘Console War’ movie domain names

Playstation 4 PS4 concept

The next generation of console wars between Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft is set to begin as all three manufacturers are due to release a new console in the near future.  Nintendo plans to release the Wii U in 2012, while the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 are expected in 2013.  Adding to the “war of consoles”, Sony Pictures has registered several domain names this week like ConsoleWarmovie.com (Whois) and TheConsoleWarmovie.com (Whois).

Could ‘Console War’ actually be a movie or just a creative marketing video promoting the Playstation 4?

What hints that this is more than just a video, is the names were all registered by Sony Pictures Entertainment, the television and film production/distribution unit of Sony.  The names weren’t registered by Sony Computer Entertainment, the video game company.

Either way, there doesn’t appear to be any news coming out of Sony on the subject, but Sony Pictures Entertainment has picked up well over a dozen names.

Each domain was registered on August 23, 2012, through the brand protection company MarkMonitor.

The full list includes:

console-war.net
console-warmovie.com
console-wars.net
console-warsmovie.com
consolewar-movie.com
consolewar-movie.net
consolewar.net
consolewarmovie.com
consolewars-movie.com
consolewars-movie.net
consolewarsmovie.com
theconsolewar-movie.com
theconsolewar-movie.net
theconsolewar.net
theconsolewarmovie.com
theconsolewars-movie.com
theconsolewars-movie.net
theconsolewarsmovie.com

At the time of this story, none of the domains resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: Kotaku, Screen Rant, Collider.com, /Film, G4tv, Digital Spy, IGN, Tapscape, Game Informer, GameZone, Push Square, gamona.de, games.on.net, NU.nl, I Am Rogue.com, 411mania.com, WorstPreviews.com, The Escapist, OnlineWelten.com, Side Mission (blog), Techzine, Spong, Joystiq, Le Journal du Geek and VG247

(Image of Playstation 4 concept by Tai Chiem)

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Movies News Video Games

Lucasfilm secretly registers ‘Star Wars First Assault’ domain names

Star Wars First Assault

Lucasfilm, the parent company of LucasArts, appears to have another big project in the works, this one called “Star Wars First Assault” according to several domains the company secretly purchased this week.

On August 22, 2012, names like StarWarsFirstAssault.com (Whois) and StarWarsFA.com (Whois) were registered through the internet brand protection agency Corporation Service Company (CSC).  And you can bet Lucasfilm is the registrant behind the names, as they are a well known client of CSC, which protects many of the world’s most valuable brands.  CSC is the same registrar responsible for managing flagship names like StarWars.com (Whois).

The fact the names were all privately registered, indicates the company is trying to keep the project under wraps for now.

Here’s the full list:

starwarsfa.com
starwarsfa.net
starwarsfa.de
starwarsfa.co.uk
starwarsfirstassault.com
starwarsfirstassault.net
starwarsfirstassault.de
starwarsfirstassault.co.uk
swfirstassault.com
swfirstassault.net
swfirstassault.de
swfirstassault.co.uk

No trademark application has been filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office nor has the company announced anything about this project, so it’s unknown if it’s related to a video game, film, or some other Star Wars product.

The domains aren’t much help either.

At the time of this story, most of the names resolve to a blank web page.

Talking about this story: GameZone

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News Video Games

Ubisoft registers several ‘Assassin’s Creed Initiate’ domain names

Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed Initiate

With all the Assassin’s Creed buzz focused on the upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed III, Ubisoft has registered a slew of domains for another project in the franchise called “Assassin’s Creed: Initiate”.

On August 21, 2012, Ubisoft went out and registered names like AssassinsCreedInitiate.com (Whois), AssassinsInitiate.com (Whois) and ACinitiate.com (Whois) – a dozen in total.

The full list of domain registrations includes:

ac-initiate.com
ac-initiates.com
acinitiate.com
acinitiates.com
assassins-initiate.com
assassins-initiates.com
assassinscreed-initiate.com
assassinscreed-initiates.com
assassinscreedinitiate.com
assassinscreedinitiates.com
assassinsinitiate.com
assassinsinitiates.com

At this point, it’s unknown what the exact plans are for “Assassin’s Creed Initiate” or “Assassin’s Creed Initiates”, whatever the official title may be.

Could it be for a new videogame? A tie-in to the launch of Assassin’s Creed III? Or some other media or event?

Ubisoft has made no official announcement, so we’ll have to wait and see a little bit longer.

On a domain-related note, Ubisoft also registered GhostReconfuturesoldierravenstrike.com (Whois) for the next DLC pack for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, which was announced just yesterday.

Talking about this story:  Computerandvideogames.com, Cinema Blend, Curse.com, Escapist Magazine, Gamed, Game Informer, Game Rant, iDigitalTimes.com, IGN, MeriStation, playm.de, Playstation Universe, VG247 and Tecmundo

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News Video Games

Lucasfilm (parent of LucasArts) registers Ewok Village domain for unknown project

Ewok Village

It’s not everyday that Lucasfilm registers a new domain name.

The last time the company picked up anything of note was back in early May when the company registered eight domains related to Star Wars: 1313, which turned out to be a video game that is creating quite a buzz.  So, it may be worth paying attention to a domain name the company registered on August 20, 2012, through the brand protection agency Corporation Service Company – ewok-village.com.

Ewok Village is the home of the furry Ewoks on the forest moon Endor.

While the domain may be nothing more than the company protecting its intellectual property or unannounced plans for a new action playset for the 2012 holiday season, it’s possible LucasArts could have an Ewok Village video game in the works.

For now, it’s all just speculation.

If you’re wondering why Lucasfilm didn’t register EwokVillage.com (no hyphen), that’s because the name was first registered back in 2005 by someone else.  Today, it’s a puppies website that has a picture of Ewoks on the homepage.

At the time of this story being published, the domain name does not resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: Games.com News (blog)

(Image of Ewok Village via Wookieepedia)

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Disputes News Video Games WIPO

Riot wins LeagueofLegends.co dispute, web address redirected users to porn site

Riot Games Dublin

Riot Games Dublin

In June, Riot Games won a case against a scam website claiming to offer online support for its smash hit PC game League of Legends.  Now, the company has won another dispute that it had filed in early August against the owner of LeagueofLegends.co (missing the ‘m’) which redirected users to a porn site.

Although the case (Case Number: DCO2012-0024) remains active on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website where it was originally filed, the Whois records for LeagueofLegends.co reflect Riot as the owner of the name.  In addition to the change of ownership, the URL resolves to a blank web page, instead of a porn site filled with photos of nude women.

Considering LeagueofLegends.com ranks among the top 1,500 websites in the world, according to Alexa, it’s likely a lot of users entering a typo by forgetting the ‘m’ in .com, found themselves on a porn site, after typing the Colombia dot-co domain.

Right now if you type leagueoflegends.co into Google search, you can still see the hit for the porn site as shown in the screen shot below.

LeagueofLegends.co

Since details of the ruling haven’t been posted online yet, it’s unknown whether the previous owner Martin Hornak handed over the name before a decision was even issued or if he was ordered to transfer the name.

One thing’s for sure, Riot must be relieved to have control.

However, the company isn’t finished going after owners of domain names with its popular hit video game ‘League of Legends’ in the name.

In late July, the company also filed a complaint over the domain name LeagueofLegendsPorn.com (Case Number: D2012-1516), which has yet to be decided.  Unlike the dotco domain that pointed visitors to a graphic porn site, LeagueofLegendsPorn.com has a harmless “Coming Soon” page online.  But given that Riot has trademarked the term “League of Legends”, it too will likely end up in Riot’s hands.

UPDATE:  The case is now showing up as ‘terminated’, meaning the parties agreed on a settlement before the panel reached a decision.

Talking about this story: Kotaku, Joystiq, The Verge, Techdirt, GameStar, GamePolitics, MeriStation, GameDynamo, VG247, OnlineWelten.com, The Escapist, Kotaku Australia and Polygamia.pl

(Image of Riot Games Dublin Office via riotgames.com)