Category: Video Games

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Video Games

Microsoft Corporation secures rights to pair of “Xbox 8” names at arbitration

Xbox 8

Microsoft Corporation has won two disputes filed in May with the National Arbitration Forum over a batch of Xbox-related domains owned by a resident of China who goes by the name “Cheng Juan”.

The disputed names include XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxCompanion.com, Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org.

While Microsoft’s interest in securing names like XboxLiveTV.com and XboxTablet.com is understandable, the “Xbox 8” names are a little more puzzling.  That is, unless of course, Microsoft has plans for the names beyond just defensively protecting its intellectual property.

At this point, it’s unknown whether Microsoft has any plans to name a future Xbox the “Xbox 8”, but this isn’t the first time speculation has surfaced online that the upcoming Xbox may be called the “Xbox 8” instead of the “Xbox 720”.  Earlier gaming articles discussed whether the next-gen Xbox would be named the XBOX 8 and why Xbox 8 not 720 is a good name.

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In late June, the domains listed in the disputes were ordered transferred after two separate panels found the names were identical to the XBOX marks, that the respondent had no rights or legitimate interests in the domains, and that the domains had been registered and are being used in bad faith.

Microsoft has been busy filing complaints and has a number of pending cases against the owners of Xboxliverewards.com, Xboxsports.com, Xboxsmartglass.com, and Xboxmusic.com.

As of today, no complaint has been filed against the owner of Xbox8.com, which also appears to be registered to a resident of China according to Whois.

Full details of the decisions handed down are available online.

Microsoft Corporation v. cheng juan Claim Number: FA1205001445083

Microsoft Corporation v. cheng juan Claim Number: FA1205001445084

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(Image of Xbox Logo; image modified by Fusible)

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News Video Games

Ubisoft adds many “online” domains like FarCryonline.com, WatchDogsonline.com

Rainbow Six Online

Last year, Ubisoft revealed it would launch the free-to-play PC game Ghost Recon Online some time in 2012 that will be supported by micro transactions.  The free-to-play model has been part of Ubisoft’s counter to the piracy problem.

Now, Ubisoft has gone off and registered a dozen domains with “online” in the name like RainbowSixOnline.com (Whois) and SplinterCellOnline.com (Whois), hinting at the possibility of releasing several more free-to-play versions of its games.

The list of newly registered domains includes:

AnnoOnline.com
BlazingAngelsOnline.com
FarCryOnline.com
LapinsCretinsOnline.com
RabbidsOnline.com
RainbowSixOnline.com
RavingRabbidsOnline.com
RaymanOnline.com
RocksmithOnline.com
SplinterCellOnline.com
WatchdogsOnline.com
YourShapeOnline.com

All of the domains appear to have been registered on June 27, 2012.  According to Whois History, many of the names had been registered before, but then expired and became available again.

While none of these titles have been officially confirmed by Ubisoft, the company did announce that Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online would also be released on the Wii U.  So, it’s entirely possible if these games see the light of day, once Ubisoft gets the games right on the PC, it will launch them on the Wii U as well.

Currently, each domain name resolves to a parked page on Gandi.net.

Talking about this story: NeoGAF and No Frag

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News Video Games

Nearly 15 years after first release, Blizzard has acquired StarCraft.com [UPDATED]

StarCraft

For years, the website StarCraft.com has flip-flopped between being home to a Starcraft Marine boat site and an online RV Buyer’s Guide.  It has never hosted information for Blizzard’s real-time strategy game StarCraft.

The official StarCraft website can be found on Blizzard.com, but that could be about to change.

According to Whois, the domain name StarCraft.com no longer belongs to its previous owners.  The name is now registered to DNStination, Inc., a privacy service of the global internet brand-protection company MarkMonitor, of which Blizzard Entertainment is a client.

Names like WarCraft.fr and Blizzard.fr are just two examples of many names owned by Blizzard Entertainment and registered through MarkMonitor.

At this point, it’s unknown if Blizzard paid money for the name or whether the company threatened legal action.  Given there is no record of a complaint being filed over StarCraft.com, Blizzard likely paid a pretty price for securing rights to the domain name.

For now, it’s only speculation that Blizzard acquired the name, but don’t be surprised to see the name being used by Blizzard very soon.

The sequel StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was released in 2010.  An expansion pack StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is expected to be released in 2012, although no official date has been announced.

I’ve reached out to StarCraft.com’s previous owners via e-mail to inquire about the transaction and will update this post if I hear back.

[UPDATE 2 June 27, 2012:. It’s official: Blizzard is the owner of StarCraft.com and StarCraft.net.  The Whois records here and here now show Blizzard Entertainment as the registrant.]

[UPDATE 1 June 25, 2012:. StarCraft.net was also acquired from the same owner, according to Whois.]

Talking about this story: VG247, Lazygamer, MeriStation and Videogamer.com

(Image of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty via Blizzard.com)

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News Video Games

Electronic Arts registers ‘The Cap Lab’

Electronic Arts Redwood Shores

I have no idea what Electronic Arts is dreaming up, but this week the video-gaming company registered the domain name: TheCapLab.com.

On June 18, 2012, EA purchased the domain (Whois) through the internet brand protection company CSC Global.

No other traces of names being registered in other extensions can be found, and, at the time of this story, EA has not filed any trademarks for “The Cap Lab”.

It’s unknown what EA has planned.  The company has not made any official announcement and the domain name does not resolve to a web page.

According to Whois history, TheCapLab.com was first registered by a resident of Florida in 2007, but the name appears to have expired way back in 2009 and was never renewed.

Readers:  Care to guess what “The Cap Lab” will be?

Talking about this story: Gameranx

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Movies News Video Games

Ubisoft may be planning ‘Watch Dogs’ video game movie according to domains

Watch Dogs movie

Could there already be a “Watch Dogs” movie in the works?

If domain name registrations are any indication of things to come, it looks like Ubisoft may be in talks for a film of its brand new IP called Watch Dogs.

On June 14, 2012, Ubisoft Entertainment registered a handful of domains like WatchDogsmovie.com (Whois) and WatchDogsthemovie.com (Whois).

In total, the gaming company registered four names so far that I could find including Watch-Dogsmovie.com (Whois) and Watch-Dogsthemovie.com (Whois).

Unveiled during Ubisoft’s press conference at E3 2012, Watch Dogs the video game is set to be released in 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

This is nothing more than speculation at this point, but given the subject matter and the positive reception the game is already receiving, it’s not too far fetched.

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