Category: Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com begins redirecting to EA’s Battlefield 3, more drama

Post author By J.B.
Post date July 9, 2011
7 Comments on ModernWarfare3.com begins redirecting to EA’s Battlefield 3, more drama

Updated July 15, 2011: The web address no longer re-directs. Activision has filed a complaint over ModernWarfare3.com. The domain dispute has been posted online.

The saga of the web address ModernWarfare3.com, which is not owned by Activision, has been a story filled with bizarre twists.

And if you thought the battle over first person shooters between Activision’s Modern Warfare 3 and EA’s Battlefield 3 was interesting, type ModernWarfare3.com into your web browser.

As of today, the web address takes you to the official website of EA’s Battlefield 3, Activision’s rival.

Last week, I was able to piece together a storyline after keeping an eye on the domain name for months.

What started as an unofficial fan site, quickly turned into an anti-Call of Duty site.

WARNING — THIS WEBSITE IS UNDER SEIGE, read a message at the top of the homepage up until days ago.

The anonymous owner of the web address ModernWarfare3.com, has taken their sense of humor and anger one step further, by re-directing the domain to battlefield.com/battlefied3.

The redirection started after the site was suspended yesterday by web hosting provider iPage.

It’s unknown why iPage suspended the website, but a Google search shows iPage has shutdown other sites in the past after receiving complaints. It could also be that the website needed its own dedicated server due to internet traffic, something the owner may not have been willing to pay for.

Discussion: Kotaku, The Escapist, jeuxvideo.com, Videogameszone, PC Games, Games Aktuell and MeriStation

Tags activision, Battlefield 3, Electronic Arts, featured, Modern Warfare 3

News Video Games

Is PopCap going to port to Google+? PlayBejeweledBlitzPlus.com registered

Post author By J.B.
Post date July 8, 2011
1 Comment on Is PopCap going to port to Google+? PlayBejeweledBlitzPlus.com registered

Since the announcement of Google+, Google’s own social network, there’s been a lot of talk about how the service will integrate games onto its platform.

One of the big draws to Facebook are the social games like Cityville, so Google will likely work on integrating games quickly.

Although nothing has been made “Official”, Engadget recently discovered in the Google+ code the site’s intent to unleash games.

Based on some recent domain registrations by PopCap Games, is it possible one of its more popular games will be the first on Google+? When PopCap ports games to Windows or Mac, it often uses “Deluxe” in the name, so if the company aims to have its games on Google+, will it start using “Plus” in the name?

The day before yesterday, the gaming company registered the domain names: playbejeweledblitzplus.com and playbejeweledblitzplus.net.

Registrant:
        DNS Admin
        PopCap Games, Inc.
        2401 4th Avenue, Suite 300
         Seattle WA 98121

Created on…………..: 2011-07-06.
Expires on…………..: 2013-07-06.
Record last updated on..: 2011-07-06.

Domain servers in listed order:

ns.ie.popcap.com
ns.sea.popcap.com

There are many ways already to play PopCap Games such as on the Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Playstation 2, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Facebook. Coming soon, you may be playing it on Google+.

According to Appdata, Bejeweled Blitz is one of PopCap’s top games on Facebook with over 10 million monthly active users.

Discussion: Inside Social Games

News Video Games

Zynga launches a sort-of game without owning the web address PrivacyVille.com

Post author By J.B.
Post date July 8, 2011

Zynga might be planning to raise $1 billion in an initial public offering, but the social gaming giant won’t spend the money for a domain name on the aftermarket, even though it launched a mini game using the name.

Yesterday, Zynga unveiled PrivacyVille on zynga.com/privacy, a tutorial on its corporate website that educates people about the company’s privacy and security practices.

While it’s not much of a game, all the press should give the domain name PrivacyVille.com some good attention. The URL is owned by Steve Hughes (Whois), who registered it in June 2010, along with the dotnet and dotorg extensions.

Some other domain names still elude the company.

Missing from the list are fishville.com, treasureisle.com, and scramble.com to name a few.

Currently, PrivacyVille.com doesn’t resolve to a web site.

Tags PrivacyVille

News Trademarks Video Games

Zenimax closer to revealing ‘Dishonored’ as dishonored.com transfers to Zenimax

Post author By J.B.
Post date July 7, 2011

Updated: Hours after I published this post, Zenimax media unveiled the Dishonored.com website.

Not much is known about a suspected project called ‘Dishonored’ underway at Zenimax, the publisher of games such as Doom and Rage.

However, the company did get one step closer to revealing ‘Dishonored’, which the company filed a trademark application for in June 2011 which was spotted by SystemLink.

So, what has been revealed?

Well, for one thing, it appears Zenimax has owned the matching domain dishonored.com for nearly a year.

Yesterday, the domain name dishonored.com which is currently hidden behind Whois privacy at Corporation Service Company (a brand protection company), transferred DNS servers from CSC’s own servers to Zenimax’s DNS servers at ns1.zenimax.com and ns2.zenimax.com, where the company’s other online properties reside such as rage.com, a domain name it purchased in May 2010 at the online marketplace Sedo for $49,999 USD.

The transfer could be a sign that a website is about to be unveiled.

Here’s a look at the updated Whois record.

The domain name dishonored.com was acquired by CSC from well-known domain investor Mike Berkens almost a year before Zenimax filed for the trademark. Mike Berkens, who writes a blog at TheDomains.com, has sold a number of web addresses that have gone on to make news such as BigGovernment.com, now a website which recently made headlines after releasing the Anthony Weiner photos.

According to Whois history, dishonored.com was acquired by CSC in July 2010.

CSC is well known for providing domain services and identity protection on behalf of some of the largest companies in the world, including Microsoft and Google.

(Photo of Rage via Zenimax Media)

Tags Dishonored, Rage, Zenimax