Call of Duty isn’t going anywhere (on PlayStation)
Now that the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard merger is finally over, Call of Duty is safely in the hands of Xbox. Fortunately, Microsoft is being the bigger company here, and won’t be making the series a console exclusive. In fact, Microsoft has signed a “binding agreement” to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation, tweets Xbox head Phil Spencer.
That should ease the suffering of those that thought Microsoft was attempting to squash the competition with the acquisition, though the software giant has yet to make any comment on the console exclusivity of its other newly acquired titles and franchises. Candy Crush Saga on the Xbox, anyone?
Microsoft president Brad Smith spoke on the agreement: “From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers. Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”
Whether Xbox’s promise to bring Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch for the next ten years will hold up now that Microsoft is holding all the cards (and the games), only time will tell. We reckon Microsoft will stick to its word, and bring something, anything, with the Call of Duty logo slapped on just to say: “See. Told you so.”
Do you want to pay $190,000 for an iPhone?
(Rich) People are weird. If they’re not out spending their money on sure-to-sink submersibles, they’re instead spending $190,000 on an old iPhone. We wish we were joking. Over the last two weeks, bidding has taken place on a sealed 4GB model of the original iPhone – eventually garnering a whopping $190,000 as of this past Saturday, obliterating the previous sale record of $63,000.
But, why? It’s going to sound stupid (and it is), but the iPhone in question was made rarer because it’s a 4GB model – something Apple only produced for a few months at launch before moving onto devices a bit more capable. Compare that to the device’s initial $500 launch price, and you’ve got a decent little bit of profit. Not bad, right?
“Sensations you’ve never felt before”
Have you ever thought of Assassin’s Creed as ‘too boring’ before? Of course you have! It’s an Assassin’s Creed game. That’s, like, Ubisoft’s whole gimmick at this point. But that could be about to change, with the Assassin’s Creed Mirage edition haptic feedback shirt from OWO, in collaboration with Ubisoft.
Throw on the shirt, and you’ll feel the game’s parkour, blade impacts, and “exclusive sensations never felt before.” Yes, it’s as weird as it sounds. The shirt has been designed with haptic points on the chest, stomach, lower back, and arms. Inside is some wizardry involving an algorithm and nine wave parameters that’ll simulate everything from the wind to a dagger. It’s also rather hideous, but that’s just us.
Neither company has gone into detail on pricing and a release date, though we know it’ll work with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is releasing on 12 October, and OWO’s shirt will include a game code to go with it. If we’re going to be stabbed by this thing, the game bloody better be included.
The Flash is an NFT now, we guess?
Cards on the table: we haven’t seen The Flash. We probably won’t, either. At least, not in theatres. And certainly not on the blockchain, which is where Warner Brothers is sending Ezra Miller’s box office disappointment to die peacefully.
Dubbed “the first new movie to hit the blockchain,” The Flash Web3 Movie Experience promises purchasers an “immersive web3 experience” that’ll give them access to several ‘digital locations’. Those places, like Barry’s room or the Batplane – each come with hidden collectibles that’ll unlock some behind-the-scenes stuff and unseen content. Essentially, Warner Brothers is selling a DVD menu from the 2000s. Awesome.
That’s not all you’re getting. Warner Brothers are attaching a voucher to redeem a DC NFT from the publisher’s NFT marketplace, along with “randomly selected key art” from the film, each with varying levels of rarity. Oh, and there’s the actual movie included too. It’s not like you were gonna watch it anyways.
If, for whatever reason, you do want to see The Flash Web3 Movie Experience, you can check it out on Warner Brother’s web3 website, releasing on 18 July. There are two ‘editions’ to choose from – “premium” and “mystery” – though stocks are “limited” to 2,000 and 10,000 copies respectively. You can check out Warner Brothers’ preview of the “experience” right here. Be warned: it does not look pretty.
If throwing money away doesn’t sound like a good idea, you can wait an extra month or two for the movie to hit streaming and physical formats.