Kevin Butler Celebrates You, The Gamer

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While the “Michael” ad launched recently by Sony was great, it did bring up one issue – what if you’re name wasn’t “Michael”

Well, Kevin Butler is here to fix all that with the “Hall of Play.” A few short clicks away on Facebook and you can experience the original “Long Live Play” trailer with everyone shouting your name!

Along with some other trailers, there’s also Kevin Butler’s personal tour of the place (which includes photos of your friends) along with “Excuses for Everyday Uses.”

Source: Facebook.com {page no longer active}

Tapjoy Launching Personal App Store

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Tapjoy has announced that it is opening its own mobile marketplace, which resembles the App Store. The company emphasized that it is designed to connect more directly with fans, not to bypass the regulation of Apple’s App Store.

“We didn’t intend for it to get discovered,” said a Tapjoy spokesperson. “Tapjoy realized in order to get really big, we needed direct relationships with consumers.”

One key measure is the ability to offer players in game currency to download a new game, something that Apple no longer directly allows on the App Store.”It is not [a way to circumvent Apple],” argued the Tapjoy spokesperson. “In fact, the wheels for this were put in motion long before Apple ever changed their policies.”

Source: VentureBeat

Microsoft Teams With Mozilla For ‘Firefox With Bing’

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Mozilla has teamed up with Microsoft to integrate Bing into a new version of Firefox browser. Reportedly, this is coming just a few weeks before Mozilla’s search deal with Google is due to expire.

“Last year, we worked with Mozilla to add Bing as a search option that ships with Firefox. Since that time, you have told us to make it even easier to use Bing in Firefox,” said Microsoft’s Tor Steiner. “So today we’re teaming with Mozilla to release Firefox with Bing, a version of the popular Web browser that includes default search settings for Bing. Now Firefox users who are Bing enthusiasts can use Firefox with Bing to use the Web the way they want without having to take extra steps to navigate or customize their settings to Bing.”

“Firefox with Bing offers the latest version of Firefox with Bing set as your home page and the default setting in the search box and AwesomeBar (where you can also type in queries as well as Web addresses),” he adds. “If you already have the latest version of Firefox, then you just need to download the Bing Search for Firefox Add-on to set the same preferences.

Notably, Firefox is now competing with Google’s Chrome browser while Google competes with Bing as a search engine. It is estimated that Microsoft has lost $5.5 billion to try and raise up Bing since 2009, and despite being the default search engine for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Windows phones and BlackBerry devices, it is estimated to only control less than 4 percent of the global search market; Google dominates with around 82 percent of the market, Yahoo about 7 percent, and China’s Baidu around 5 percent.

Source: AdWeek

Grab A Taste For Adventure

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Subway and Uncharted 3 have teamed up for a Taste for Adventure. Go into a local Subway Restaurant and purchase one of the specially marked Uncharted 30 oz. drinks to receive a code that will provide you with access to the full competitive multiplayer experience throughout the month of October. Check out the official word {link no longer active} from Nathan Drake himself. Along with access to the competitive multiplayer experience, keep your eyes open for exclusive Subway items hidden throughout the maps to unlock additional content.

DC Universe Online F2P On November 1

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Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed that DC Universe Online will launch its free-to-play option on Tuesday, November 1. The DC Universe Online developer live-cast where it was announced can be watched at stickam.com/sonyonline {link no longer active}.

DC Universe Online will feature three statuses in Free, Premium and Legendary. Check out the full details of the different ways to play at dcuniverseonline.com/en/free.

Blizzard Apologizes For Homophobic Remarks At Blizzcon Event

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Blizzard recently generated the wrong sort of attention when George Fisher of Cannibal Corpse (who was singing as part of Blizzard rock group Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain) used homophobic slurs to describe the Alliance faction. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime (who is also a member of Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain band member) has come out and issued an apology for the incident.

“As president of Blizzard, I take full responsibility for everything that occurs at BlizzCon,” said Morhaime. “It was shortsighted and insensitive to use the video at all, even in censored form. The language used in the original version, including the slurs and use of sexual orientation as an insult, is not acceptable, period. We realize now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games. Doing so was an error in judgment, and we regret it.”

“The bottom line is we deeply apologize for our mistakes and for hurting or offending anyone. We want you to have fun at our events, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We’re proud to be part of a huge and diverse community, and I am proud that so many aspects of the community are represented within Blizzard itself,” he added. “As a leader of Blizzard, and a member of the band, I truly hope you will accept my humblest apology.”

Source: GayGamer {link no longer active}

Final Fantasy Game Coming To Mobage

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Square Enix has announced a major sponsorship with Japanese mobile platform operator DeNA to create a Final Fantasy branded social game. DeNA will be developing the game to launch on its Mobage game network, using classic Final Fantasy characters.

Previously, Square Enix released Chocobo’s Crystal Tower and Knights of the Crystals for Facebook, though none of those titles featured the Final Fantasy name. There are pre-registeration opportunities for the game, including an in-game bonus for those that purchase Final Fantasy Type-0 for PSP.