Category: Video Games

Electronic Arts files trademark applications for ‘Trouble Makers’ game

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 23, 2012
1 Comment on Electronic Arts files trademark applications for ‘Trouble Makers’ game

Electronic Arts filed two trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on January 18, 2012, for the term “Trouble Makers”.

Serial number 85519088 covers: “Entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game; Provision of information relating to electronic computer games provided via the Internet.”

Serial number 85519072 covers: “Computer game software; Downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices; Video game software.”

At the time of this story going online, EA has not made an official announcement. However, if EA has any serious interest at all in developing a “Trouble Makers” game and launching it online, it may have to open its wallet wide to get the matching web address.

Troublemakers.com has been listed for sale on the web for years. The current asking price is $50,000 USD or best offer.

Care to guess what EA has in store for “Trouble Makers”?

Could it be the next installment of Need for Speed rumored to be out later this year?

Discussion: Game Informer and This is Xbox

Tags EA, EA trademarks, Electronic Arts, Electronic Arts trademark, Electronic Arts trademarks, Need for Speed, Need for Speed: Trouble Makers, Trouble Makers, Trouble Makers game

News Video Games

Microsoft acquires ClicktoHump.com and other Halo related domain names

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 21, 2012
3 Comments on Microsoft acquires ClicktoHump.com and other Halo related domain names

Microsoft has made some interesting domain name acquisitions this month that might create excitement for Halo fans.

And I’m not talking about names like Halo 13 or Halo Kinect 3D, I’m talking about names like ClicktoHump.com and GetBattleReady.com.

According to Whois records, Microsoft is now the owner of several Halo related domains, that were first registered years ago.

Although the domains may be nothing more than part of the company’s intellectual property strategy to protect its Halo brand, they are certainly interesting.

Here’s a look at the company’s latest Halo related domain acquisitions.

[Update 1 on January 23, 2012: I’ve discovered many more domains acquired by Microsoft via Melbourne IT DBS and added them to the list above like itshumpday.com and ridebrokeback.com.]

Discussion: The Next Web, GeekWire, Business Insider, Neowin.net, MSNBC, halo.bungie.org, @PatrickKlepek and This Is Xbox

(Image of Halo player repeatedly crouching while standing over a dead enemy via Halo Wikia)

Tags Click to Hump, featured, Get Battle Ready, Halo career, Halo domains, Halo story, Halo Xbox, Halo zero, John 117, microsoft, Microsoft domains, Microsoft Halo

News Video Games

Zynga sports games like football may be coming soon as more hints are dropped

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 21, 2012
1 Comment on Zynga sports games like football may be coming soon as more hints are dropped

If you’ve been itching to play sports games developed by social gaming giant Zynga, they may actually be closer to launch than you think.

In the past 12 months, the company has made moves indicating social sports games may be under development, like the hiring of EA Sports Creative Director Mark Turmell, who was also the lead designer of NFL Blitz (picture above) while he was at Midway.

Zynga’s latest move: acquiring the domain name ZyngaSports.com.

I did a little domain sleuthing today and found that the domain ZyngaSports.com (Whois) was transferred this week to the intellectual property law firm, Keats McFarland & Wilson, who of course acts as Zynga’s attorneys in IP matters such as that of the Blingville dispute.

So which sports game will be first out of the gate?

It’s anyone’s guess, but if I had to pick it would be Zynga Football.

And yes, Zynga owns ZyngaFootball.com, ZyngaFootball.net, and even ZyngaFootball.org.

It acquired those web addresses in April 2010 with the help of internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, along with over 500 domains based on existing and possibly future games.

The names which were transferred over a two day span in April, are too many to list here in this post, but included domains like animalvillegame.com, bountyville.com, casinoblitzgame.com, coasterville.net, crimevillegame.com, friendempires.com, hotelvillegame.com, ranchville.info, zyngadopewars.com, zyngadragonwars.com, zyngaglamourlife.com, and of course, zyngafootball.com.

While the imminent launch of Zynga Sports is purely speculation, it looks like a very good possibility.

Though not an exhaustive list, you can see hundreds of the domains Zynga acquired in April 2010 here.

Discussion: Kotaku, Games.com, Gawker, All Facebook and Gamezebo

Tags bountyville, Coasterville, crimeville, EA Sports, featured, Football with Friends, Footballville, hotelville, Mark Turmell, NFL Blitz, Ranchville, Tennis with Friends, zynga, Zynga domains, Zynga Football, Zynga NFL, Zynga Sports

News Video Games

Domains show Activision may create a new game called “Skylanders Giants”

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 21, 2012
3 Comments on Domains show Activision may create a new game called “Skylanders Giants”

Activision, which is a known client of the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, has apparently gone on a small buying spree for “Skylanders Giants” domain names, hinting that a new game is in the works.

On January 19, the video game company that released Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure last year, acquired six domains with Skylanders Giants in the name like SkylandersGiants.com and SkylandersGiantsgame.com.

Although the owner of each name is hidden behind Whois privacy, because MarkMonitor is in the business of protecting brands of some of the biggest companies, the owner is all but guaranteed to be Activision.

Here’s the list of names that were registered:

http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.dk
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.it
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiantsgame.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiantsgame.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/theskylandersgiants.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/theskylandersgiants.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.fr

At the time of this story none of the domains resolve to a website and Activision has made no official announcement.

[Update 1 on February 7, 2012: Activision announced Skylanders: Giants. It is scheduled to be released in Fall 2012.]

Discussion: Giant Bomb, Joystiq, Wired.com, Co-Optimus, Multiplayer.it, VG247, Eurogamer.se, Eurogamer.it, Game Rant, darkSpyro Forums, Shacknews, Family Gamer and NeoGAF

Tags activision, Activision domains, dnstination, MarkMonitor, Skylanders, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, WHOIS privacy

News Video Games

ProjectIronWolf.com Whois record changes hint Activision may be involved

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 14, 2012
1 Comment on ProjectIronWolf.com Whois record changes hint Activision may be involved

Since early August when a Treyarch employee was caught playing a game titled “Iron Wolf” on the Xbox 360, rumors of the next Call of Duty series being called “Iron Wolf” or “Project Iron Wolf” have been swirling on the internet.

A fake website located at ironwolfproject.com, likely setup by a Call of Duty fanboy, even went online in late December albeit with some significant errors like the misspelling of “Treyarch”.

Whether it’s a more clever stunt by another Call of Duty fanboy or a sneaky but legitimate transfer to Activision’s legal department, the domain name projectironwolf.com (Whois) was updated earlier this week and now has Whois details that match that of Activision’s other coveted domain names like CallofDuty.com (Whois).

The biggest similarities include the domain servers listed, as well as the address and phone information.

The big difference between the two Whois records, of course, is the name used as the contact, which is the telltale sign that this is nothing more than another silly stunt. Whereas Activision’s Whois contact used for its domains is usually Mary Tuck, the company’s litigation counsel, the contact listed for projectironwolf.com is currently George Pharell, who also uses an unrelated e-mail: callofdutytiw -at- post.com.

Post.com is owned and operated by World Media Group, LLC, an online company that specializes in owning premium domain names like doctor.com and lawyer.com.

According to Whois historical records, projectironwolf.com was first registered in early January by a resident of the Ukraine. The domain name changed hands days later to George Pharell.

Recently, the owner of the name (who ran a now suspended Twitter account) redirected visitors to CallofDuty.com, but as of today, the web address does not resolve to any web page.

I’ve reached out to George Pharell by e-mail, who appears to have a lot of free time on his hands, and will update this post if I hear back.

The Whois changes to ProjectIronWolf.com appear to be just an online ruse, but with all the “Iron Wolf” buzz emerging, I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether the domain ends up in the hands of Activision.

Activision’s involvement in this whole thing, may merely be a matter of a cease-and-desist letter.

Discussion: This Is Xbox

Tags activision, Activision domains, Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Iron Wolf, Call of Duty: Project Iron Wolf, fanboy, internet stunt, Iron Wolf, Mary Tuck, Project Iron Wolf, Treyarch, Ukraine, whois