WWE Hall of Famer Sues ‘Call of Duty’ Publishers for Copyright Infringement
Video game’s ‘Prophet’ character draws too heavily from Booker T. creation ‘G.I. Bro’
HOUSTON –WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Huffman has filed a copyright infringement suit against the publishers of the video game franchise “Call of Duty,” claiming its character “Prophet” is too similar to the “G.I. Bro” comic book action hero character he created based on one of his early pro wrestling personas.
The 2018 release Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 prequel depicts the pre-cybernetics Prophet which bears striking similarities to G.I. Bro, a special operations soldier created and copyrighted by Mr. Huffman from the Houston suburb of Friendswood.
“When seen side-by-side there can be no question that this character was copied from G.I. Bro. From the hair, body type and clothing, right down to facial expressions, the similarities are too profound to be an accident,” said Micah Dortch of the Dallas office of the Potts Law Firm. Mr. Huffman is represented by Mr. Dortch and Houston attorney Patrick Zummo with the Law Offices of Patrick Zummo.
Since the 2015 release of the G.I. Bro and the Dragon of Death Preview and G.I. Bro and the Dragon of Death comic books, Mr. Huffman has appeared at a number of events dressed as G.I. Bro to promote the titles.
In the first three days of its release by Activision Publishing Inc., Activision Blizzard Inc., and Major League Gaming Corp., Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 sold more than $500 million in physical copies and downloads. Total sales to date are thought to exceed $1 billion.
“Booker T. has devoted a significant amount of time and money creating and organically growing his G.I. Bro character,” said Mr. Dortch. “That entrepreneurial investment should not be erased by such a blatant act of copyright infringement by a gaming juggernaut.”
The case is Booker T. Huffman v. Activision Publishing, Inc., Activision Blizzard, Inc., and Major League Gaming Corp. filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Betray your friends in this 8 person multiplayer focused on social deception and survival.
Communication and teamwork is essential to the survivors’ ultimate goal of escape. Gather resources, repair structures, and brave the wilderness together. Just beware that there are traitors within the group who will be steadily gaining strength as the match progresses. Traitors only goal is to stop the survivors by any means necessary.
Features:
Escape to Survive As a survivor amongst a group of strangers you will have to collect resources, battle the elements and complete a series of tasks in order to call in one of several rescue vehicles.
Hidden Roles Amongst the group of survivors, lurk unidentified traitors. The traitors are known to each other but not the survivors. Their goal is to stop the survivors from escaping without being identified and killed.
Teamwork Survivors cannot escape unless they work together. Players who wander off on their own will have difficulty surviving the elements, can fall victim to hostile wildlife, or become easy targets for the traitors.
Communication There are several ways to communicate with other players, including proximity-based voice chat, private voice chat radio channels, text chat, and emotes - communication is key if the survivors have any hope of completing their tasks and defending against the traitors.
Betrayal & Deception The traitors are outnumbered and weak when the game begins, they may infiltrate the survivors and earn their trust while they build up their strength. Survivors can never be 100% sure of who to trust. The traitors can take advantage of this by spreading lies, and pitting the survivors against each other. Project Winter is available now!
Before I get to my post of the Top Audiences for Last Week, I'm doing a review for Amazon Restaurants service. Yep... me... señor Snack King (not to be confused with señor smoothy buns)! I'm doing the review this time around! Gwahahaha! Thank you to Amazon for covering the meal... we wouldn't pass up on that! Hehehehe (Hi Mom!)
So we went through Amazon using a prime account to access their restaurants' service, and based on our location... it populated tons of restaurants in the area. We're surrounded by restaurants big and small, so we looked through a few.
Once you find the type of food you have a taste for, check out their menu and food you want to add to your order. You don't get access to every single meal through some restaurants, but it's a simple... cool process for the meals that are on the menu. I wanted seafood.
You check out just like the regular Amazon orders, but it comes a lot quicker. Our food came in about 30 minutes and they didn't make the food until the delivery driver got there. So it was fresh... I like fresh, crispy, DELICIOUS. I guess the restaurants have delivery seals they put on the meals so that you can tell if it was opened or not.
They have a minimum $10 requirement for your order, but there is also a $3.99 fee that doesn't include tip. Blu isn't a fan of ordering in for a number of reasons, and fees are one of them... but the fee comes with the territory if you choose to use the service. They put a suggested tip amount there, but you ultimately decide on what that is. I don't know if you have the option to select no tip, but... if you do that for the sake of tipping cash, tip cash. Do that at restaurants too so the staff doesn't have to wait until payday. Those tips aren't always paid in full. The delivery lady was friendly, gave me the order and she was on her way. I don't want to say that's always the case, but Amazon should stress the importance of that (please please please)... because customer service is great for business online and in-person.
The service is quick and easy, but make sure that you call Amazon if the restaurant no longer has the item you ordered. This happened to us the first time we ordered, so we spoke with them, and they canceled the entire order quickly. LOVE IT!
Daedalic Entertainment Reveals Railroad-building Rogue-like Unrailed!
Play the upcoming rogue-like multiplayer game for the first time ever at DreamHack Leipzig's Indie Arena Booth from Feb. 15-17
HAMBURG, Germany – Feb. 12, 2019 –Delayed trains and cancelations – sound painfully familiar? Well soon players can prove that they can do better. Unrailed!, the new railroad-building rogue-like from publisher Daedalic Entertainment and developer Indoor Astronaut, is all about getting an unstoppable train safely to the station through a variety of maps featuring cooperative and competitive online and local multiplayer.
Unrailed!'s first gameplay trailer
This train just doesn’t stop: while you're fighting for resources against the clock and gluttonous camels, communication is key. The railroad leads you through procedurally generated landscapes, each with its own obstacles, geographic peculiarities and weird inhabitants, some of whom mean the track-laying troupe no good. With a variety of modes available for two to four players in several difficulty settings, Unrailed! offers nearly limitless replay value.
Key Features:
Unstoppable train action!
Rogue-like gameplay: Procedurally generated worlds for immense replay value.
Various landscapes, inhabitants and quests.
“Endless mode“: Constant new challenges with various difficulty settings.
Crafting elements: Railroad tracks don't construct themselves, after all.
Co-op multiplayer: Online or locally in Party Mode.
Versus Mode for competitive track-laying.
The early access version of Unrailed! will be available this summer for PC. If you're interested in trying out the game earlier, you can do so at DreamHack 2019 in Leipzig. From Feb. 15-17, Daedalic and Indoor Astronaut will showcase the title at the Indie Arena Booth, where the team is looking forward to meeting many amateur railroaders!
Add some surround sound, light up some space posters and power up the LED strips for this one!
DESCRIPTION
Explore and reshape distant worlds! Astroneer is set during the 25th century Intergalactic Age of Discovery, where Astroneers explore the frontiers of outer space, risking their lives in harsh environments to unearth rare discoveries and unlock the mysteries of the universe.
In this space sandbox adventure, players can work together to build custom bases above or below ground, create vehicles to explore a vast solar system, and use terrain to create anything they can imagine. A player’s creativity and ingenuity are the key to thriving on exciting planetary adventures! In Astroneer you can:
Reshape the ground under your feet as though it were made of clay. In Astroneer, players use their deform tool to dig, collect, shape and build anything they wish. Use this ability to dig to the center of the planet, build a ramp into the sky, or make megaliths just by using terrain!
Survive on and explore carefully crafted planets that can be entirely deformed and traversed. Our vast solar system includes 7 wondrous planets that players can travel between and explore every inch of, from the entire spherical surface, through treacherous layers of caves, all the way down to mysterious the core. Each of those planets has unique and challenging surface and cave biomes that offer a multitude of challenges for players on their journey.
Snap together components and objects to build bases and vehicles. Items that Astroneers craft and find in the world can all be snapped and connected together to create unique creations for any situation. Customize and decorate your bases, vehicles, and Astroneer.
Play with friends in 4 player online drop-in/drop-out co-op. Astroneer is better with friends. Group up with other players and work together to create massive industrial bases or to create fun games in the extensive creative sandbox.
Discover and uncover the mysteries of the solar system. Once Astroneers are ready, they may choose to attempt to understand and possibly harness the power behind mysterious structures found in the world.
Astroneer began as an Early Access title on Steam and would not be here today if not for your support, feedback, and ideas throughout that process. Now that we are close to hitting 1.0 we want to reiterate our pledge to continue building on the foundation that is Astroneer with free, ongoing content updates. If you're curious about the direction we're aiming for, be sure to go check out our roadmap, and our development vlogs to keep updated on what we are working on!
The latest entry in the hugely popular God Eater action series is here!
• Fight in Style with Brand-new God Arcs! Expand your close-combat armory with the dual-wield God Arc “Biting Edge” and the two-handed moon axe ""Heavy Moon"", or fight from afar with the new ""Ray Gun"" God Arc!
• New Abilities for Exhilarating Battles!
Ground, Air, and Step attacks evolve into powerful techniques with Burst Arts, and the new Dive dash attack allows you full freedom of movement to hunt down wandering Aragami!
• Fearsome New Threats: Ash Aragami and Devour Attacks!
Dangerous new foes, Ash Aragami can utilize Devours Attacks and enter Burst Mode, increasing their strength exponentially! These enemies are not to be trifled with and will require you to take your weapon and your game to the next level!
Okay ladies and gentlemen, its time to get a bit... deep (but we've been here before)! My responses are highlighted in gray. - Blu
Provided byAustin, TX Based - Clinical Forensic Psychologist Dr. John Huber
Do video games make children more prone to violence? An analysis of numerous studies by researchers at Dartmouth University found that children who play violent video games show an increased tendency toward physical, aggressive behavior.
Previous research has shown that children who play violent video games are more likely to exhibit physical aggression, but a vocal minority disputes these findings. Researchers conducted a thorough meta-analysis of 24 studies from locations around the world from 2010 to 2017, with more than 17,000 participants ages nine to 19 years old.
My argument has never changed on this subject... and my questions remain the same. Some of you remember my argument from over 10 years ago (yes over 10 years ago). Why are some PARENTS buying their children video games that aren't for their age group? Seriously, why? It doesn't matter what they want or how bad they want it... you can't buy your elementary school kid Call of Duty, Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto, and a number of other Mature games... only to complain and blame games and their developers. Check out the shirts below.
No Ma'am & no Sir(!)... doesn't work like that. Do you know what personal responsibility is? If you don't know... let me spell it out: Personal responsibility is when a person is held accountable for their own actions. The ESRB ratings are on the games for a reason. Has yet to stop some parents from buying certain games for their kids only to have some of the up yay hours of the morning online swearing and sometimes swatting other gamers. Video games are not forced into anyone's home against their will for their kids to partake in, neither are violent movies, neither is music with explicit lyrics, neither are adult movies, neither are guns and a number of other things. What about making sure your kids can't access certain content online (including violent videos posted on Youtube)?
https://www.ESRB.org
Speaking of guns... do you lock them away or tell your children that they're hands off?
What about adult movies and tv shows that cross the line of what's appropriate for an underaged audience? The rabbit hole goes deep folks. I'm not saying that some video games have content that can assist in grooming a child's aggression and interest in violence. My question is... why provide an impressionable child such games? There are tons of games they can indulge in that don't involve headshots, and beating digital people to a bloody pulp, but are you willing to provide them with that?
If your child is already in the deep in, seek help. If your child is swimming in that direction... seek help. If your child has yet to even partake in games... make a choice to be the adult and keep the game purchases... age appropriate. While you're at it... do the same for other forms of content. The game industry can't raise our children. My daughter's name is Clementine, after the Walking Dead's Clementine... but she's just a baby... she has never seen me play such a game or watch the show (I'm cognizant).
Every child won't turn out violent or more aggressive from games (I'm living proof) but keep it age appropriate just in case. If you also game, consider stashing your games and playing when they aren't around. There are a slew of kids who outfox their parents and other family at times... so I can't say its always preventable, but the effort helps.
Q&A
Q. What are your thoughts about this study and do you agree that video games can cause people to become physically aggressive?
A.Yes... it's definitely possible, just like other forms of entertainment (i.e. MMA) could possibly cause people to become physically aggressive. There are people who don't play video games, but they like to put their hands on other kids, teens, and adults.
Q. Do you think a person who plays a lot of video games has a “disease”?
A.Again... it's possible, but some people become obsessed with their favorite pass time. If someone just loves video games and its a way to escape, I wouldn't call it a disease. There are some kids who have to move from area to area based on a parents job, kinda hard to make friends... so they game online to enjoy a slice of social life. This also includes adults. There are tons of adults that work so much that social life is non-existent, especially if they have to move around a lot for their job. Sometimes that friends list is the only group of friends a person may have... so what may seem like a disease may be their only social life.
There are people who forget to bathe, eat and take care of themselves to the point that their health is affected. There are people who go nuts if they can't play a game daily. I'd see that as a potential disease, but for others... no, there are circumstances outside of a love for gaming that nabbed any chance of a solid social life.
Q. Do you think that video games can actually have a positive impact on a person’s mental health?
A.Absolutely. Video games not only help with hand-eye coordination for many gamers but look at the games that challenge players to... think. There are games that challenge your memory in some areas, while others focus exclusively on brain building. I can't give this credit to all games... but it's safe to give it to most games.
Q. If the US embraces The World Health Organization’s decision on video games does that mean that drugs will be able to be prescribed in an attempt to treat or cure the disease?
A.I don't know. I don't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. I guess they can help some people with a deeper problem that involves obsession, but I don't think the meds will help everyone. It's a great excuse to pump out more meds, but let's be honest... there are a lot of meds that have screwed up a lot of people. Look at the commercials, some mention a solution during 10% of the commercial... while the other 90% of the freaking commercial focuses on the side effects... which sometimes include death. At times the problem can worsen too.
I can't remember how many times I've seen a commercial showcasing a new medication... and the persons at the beach or doing something fun... and then... a year or two later there's a lawyer seeking clients who fell victim to said medication (i.e. "If you or one of your loved ones used... blah blah blah... you may qualify for a settlement").
Thanks for the questions... and if anything I hope my responses make a positive impact.
