Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, taking control of the company in a $68.7 billion USD deal. According to the terms of the deal, Miicrosoft is paying $95 USD per share for Activision Blizzard best known as the company behind Call of Duty and Overwatch. This represents a 45% premium on Activision’s Friday close price. The deal now means that Microsoft is the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. Additionally, Activision’s library will bolster Xbox’s gaming platform and Microsoft’s Game Pass portfolio with exclusive games and releases. Announcing the record-breaking deal, Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft said: “Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play ...
Retro fans rejoice: you can now run the original Tomb Raider PlayStation 1 game on a Game Boy Advance. As part of the OpenLara project — an open-source program revolving around Tomb Raider — modder and hacker XProger spent a whole year working on the port, which is the latest to join a series of other platforms you can run the classic 1996 title on including the original Xbox, the 3DO, an iPhone, and the Nintendo 3DS. For the time being, given optimization and hardware limitations, XProger has only managed to get the first three levels to work, but he hopes to finish the rest of the game in the near future. “There are many further improvements,” he explains, “as well as optimization of content and video to fit the entire Tomb Raider game in a 32 MB cartridge.” If you’re a fa...
Steve Vai has postponed his planned tour of North America until the fall. The first U.S. leg of dates will now begin on Wednesday, September 28 in El Cajon, California and wrap the first week of December. The itinerary will now feature performances in 52 markets as opposed to the initial plan of staging 54 shows. All ticket and VIP purchases will be honored for the rescheduled date. Vai‘s performance in Atlanta, Georgia will now take place at the Variety Playhouse instead of The Eastern and due to scheduling conflicts, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Billings, Montana shows will no longer be a part of the tour. Approximately one year ago, Vai underwent shoulder surgery to repair an injury. That procedure was successful, enabling him to record the upcoming studio album release of “...
Swedish death metal veterans HYPOCRISY will embark on the “Worship” tour this spring. The 28-date trek will kick off at Warsaw in Brooklyn, New York on April 29 and will make stops in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Austin before concluding in Baltimore at the Maryland Deathfest on May 29. Support on the trek will come from CARACH ANGREN, THE AGONIST and HIDEOUS DIVINITY. HYPOCRISY leader Peter Tägtgren comments: “We’re happy to come back on tour in North America with the new album. New songs and old songs never played live before will be added to the setlist. And we’re happy to share the stage with CARACH ANGREN, THE AGONIST and HIDEOUS DIVINITY.” General admission tickets for the tour go on sale this Friday, January 21 at 9 a.m. PST/ noon EST. Confirmed date...
Heavys was created by a group of metalheads who felt metal music deserves a better set of headphones. With headquarters in New York City, engineering in Germany, design from Switzerland and speaker manufacturing from Denmark, Heavys is truly global. Engineered by industry veteran Axel Grell, who led high-end audio at Sennheiser, Heavys introduces a number of interesting concepts into their headphones. “While most headphones have one driver per side, Heavys has four,” says Jonathan Habshush, CEO and founder of Heavys. “Having four drivers allows each to focus on different frequencies. No need to try and accommodate for lows, mids and highs all together. Especially for the unique and complex sounds of heavy metal music.” In addition to the four drivers on each side, H...
Fan-filmed video of Lita Ford‘s January 17 performance at RokIsland Fest in Key West, Florida can be seen below. Lita recently completed recording her long-awaited new solo album. The follow-up to 2012’s “Living Like A Runaway” was once again helmed by guitarist/producer Gary Hoey, who contributes some guitar playing to the disc, alongside the rest of Ford‘s backing band, which continues to consist of guitarist Patrick Kennison, drummer Bobby Rock and bassist Marty O’Brien. In January 2021, Lita told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that her new album contains “some of the best guitar playing” she has heard “in decades.” She added: “And I’m not blowing smoke up my own ass, but Gary and I jus...
In truly epic Challenge fashion, the two brand-new All Stars winners signaled their victory like no other champions before them: aboard a luxury jet that tore off into the night. But which of the eight finalists snatched the crown away from reigning All Stars king Yes and became $500,000 richer? Well, whoever it was, they knew they’d be sleep-deprived. Immediately after Brad and Jodi’s shocking elimination from the game, TJ told the competition’s remaining four partnerships that the final would begin immediately. Players spent the night alternating between taking posts atop tree trunks and getting little sleep atop flimsy hammocks. Melinda, who spent the first shift upright alongside Jonna, Ayanna and Janelle, could only marvel at the strength of the female finalists beside her. “We’re all...
Catelynn and Tyler welcomed daughter Rya right before the first-ever Teen Mom: Family Reunion — and their new bundle of joy meant they couldn’t attend the event. In a deleted scene from the premiere episode, Maci and Cheyenne decide to FaceTime their fellow MTV cohort before they meet up with the rest of the cast (yes, right before that first evening). “We’re kind of assuming you’re not coming,” Maci states, as Cate gives Baby R a bottle. “If she was a little older, I would be able to be there,” Cate replies. What advice does Cate give the duo before they gather with the rest of the vacationers for the first time? And how does she describe the Teen Mom 2 ladies? Watch the video, and do not miss the second episode of Teen Mom: Family Reunion t...