There’s an old saying that goes, “It all comes out in the wash,” meaning everything will be revealed eventually as time goes on. Or something like that. In the case of ex-Infinity Ward executives vs. Activision, there’s quite a few interesting details that are starting to surface, as to why Jason West and Vince Zampella were given the boot.

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In the recent lawsuit that has been brought against Activision by West and Zampella, the two former execs say that the publisher started an “Orwellian,” “pre-ordained” investigation that was created to “manufacture a basis to fire” them, and avoid paying bonuses.

The two are seeking damage that are “in the excess of $36 million”. West and Zampella believe that the Activision didn’t honor its agreements on the contract that granted Infinity Ward creative authority over “any Call of Duty game set in the post-Vietnam era, the near future or distant future” and anything under the Modern Warfare brand. The former execs have stated in their suit – based on the original binding contract – that no game with under the title of Modern Warfare “can be commercially released without the written consent of West and Zampella.”

Legally that agreement is a Memorandum of Understanding, and there is an actual document that was signed by West, Zampella, and Activision Publishing president Mike Griffith in March of 2008. This was an agreement designed to “ensure that Infinity Ward employees received rewards for their hard work.” They now feel that Activision decided to look for an easy out, so they wouldn’t have to pay them the money they were owed, and thus a “pre-textual investigation” was launched.

Allegedly the investigation was never explained to the former executives, who say that they are very clear on what they did or did not do. “Anything less than their full cooperation with the inquisition would constitue insubordination,” which was the loophole that Activision used to fire the two.

Apparently West and Zampella were “interrogated for over six hours in a windowless conference room” and employees of Infinity Ward were “brought…to tears” by Activisions abrupt investigation. I’m not making this up.

Activision looking to do some spin control state their side of the story, has said that West and Zampella were communicating with Activisions competitors, namely EA Games. This thickens the plot because Infinity Ward is a studio that was born out of the ashes of development studio 2015, which developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. In 2002, key members of 2015 development team split with the studio, along with West and Zampella, to eventually form Infinity Ward, creatign the Call of Duty series for Activision.

This is just getting crazy! I don’t think it’s going to end pretty, and who knows what will happen to Infinity Ward, or the Modern Warfare franchise? Stay tuned.

GameInformer just revealed what next month’s cover will be, and its got Valve’s acclaimed first person puzzle game on the front. The April edition of GameInformer claims to have a twelve page cover story dedicated to the game. GameInformer says the twleve pages will cover "new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists." What’s most interesting about the cover revealment is the picture itself. GameInformer is releasing two covers for all your collection fans, but one of them details a portal leading to an environment never seen in the original Portal:

Looks like a jungle of some sort. Does this mean Portal 2 is leaving the Rat-Lab facilities we’ve become familiar with? We’ll have to wait for the magazine’s street date for clarifacation.

Looking to squeeze a just a little bit more cash out of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Square Enix has stated that the game will receive a GOTY (Game Of The Year) edition later this month. Yes there is already a collectors edition, which some felt wasn’t worth the hefty price tag that accompanied it. The GOTY edition is looking to up the ante by including six new maps, and the ability to play in 3D.

Reports say that Batman: Arkham Asylum will use the TriOviz 3D effect, a feature that works with HD and SD television sets and doesn’t require red and blue lenses to view in the 3rd dimension. If this all sounds enticing to you, and you live in North America don’t get your hopes up. Warner Bros. has officially said that the 3D feature will only be available in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Your best bet is to hold out hope, that the controlling parties come to their senses, and realize how much money they could makerelease Arkhma Asylum GOTY edition with the 3D effect in North America as well.

Everybody and their friends knew that Modern Warfare 2 was getting DLC this spring. But there was rampant speculation on what the content would be. Would it be remixes of old maps? Or something new entirely? The Tech Game has apparently gotten their grubby hands on some leaked screens, as well as a video of the DLC, which should answer everybody’s questions.

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The DLC will be called “Stimulus Package”, it will include five locations, three will be brand spanking new, and two will be from Call of Duty 4 (Crash and Overgrown). No exact date has been given for when we can expect to put these locations through the paces. So for now just check out the video:

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Modern Warfare 2 Map pack ‘Stimulus Package’ Exclusive sneak peak from thetechgame on Vimeo.

If you’re a fan of Halo 2 then the news that the game would no longer receive online support starting next month, must’ve been a real bummer. Microsoft is looking to do you one better though, in hopes to soften the blow, and help to transition you into the modern era of online gaming with the Halo franchise.

In an effort to showcase how much fun the online play in Halo: Reach will be, as well as work out the bugs. The House of Gates is offering diehard Halo 2 players the chance to get in on the beta for the game. Previously the beta was only available to those that purchased Halo 3: ODST, now it’s not. If you’re invited to partake in the online multiplayer beta for Halo: Reach, you will receive an email from Microsoft, which will include 3 free months of Xbox LIVE Gold, 400 Microsoft Points, and a special invite to join the multiplayer beta.

Not bad, one thing is for certain, there are going to be a lot of people participating in the beta come next month. That much you can count on for sure.

When Lara Croft makes her next pixelated appearance in a video game, it will not be within the confines of the Tomb Raider Franchise. Crystal Dynamics has unvieled that the new game to feature the fan favorite, gun totting, treasure hunter will be titled: Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light.

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The game will be shown “behind closed doors” at the next weeks Game Developers Conference. The official line from Crystal Dynamics is that the game will be “completely new and very different to what people might be expecting.”

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When we first heard of Vanquish – the new title from Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami, there was virtually no information, except for a spiffy action trailer. Now we have a little bit more info on the game as well as some pictures.

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Vanquish will be a shooter developed by Platinum Games (Bayonetta) it will try and set itself outside of the many other shooters that are on the market by not relying so heavy on a cover system. The story revolves around and alien invasion sandwiched between a conflict with the United States and Russia. The game has been dubbed as a “speedy” shooter and will be available on the Xbox 360 at some point this year.

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You can view pictures of Vanquish here.

Activision and former Infinty Ward executives Jason West and Vince Zampella, are fighting a war of attrition. Activision has fired both of the men over insubordination. Due to the nature of “insubordination” Activision has said that their former employees violated the terms of their contract, and is trying to to put the clamps down on the severance package owed to the former executives.

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West and Zampella aren’t taking this lightly and have decided to sue Activision, saying they are owed “substantial royalty payments.” Jason West goes on the record to say “We were shocked by Activision’s decision to terminate our contract. We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we’ve been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we’ve done speaks for itself.”

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It hasn’t been specified the amount of money that the two are looking to receive from Activison, but I’m willing to bet its a pretty piece of change. Especially if we’re talking about a severance package, as well as unpaid bonus’. “After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn’t have to sue to get paid”, says Vince Zampella.

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The suit that the two are bringing against Activision isn’t just over money, as they are also suing for the rights over Modern Warfare. This is interesting because prior to the falling out between the two parties, Activision gave the two executives contractual rights to control the Modern Warfare brand. That may be why Activision is trying to play the “breech of contract” card, with West and Zampella countering with, “okay we’re going to sue you”. The very fate of Mactavish and company hangs in the balance. Stay tuned.

There’s an official trailer for Halo: Reach up showcasing some of the games multiplayer. Even though Bungie has said that the trailer is from the games alpha build, it still looks pretty good. Here’s hoping that the single-player lives up to the huge amount of hype that has been set. Take a gander at the trailer below:

"The Halo: Reach multiplayer beta madness doesn’t drop into Xbox LIVE until May 3rd, 2010, but youre gonna need to be up to speed before you get your boots in the mud. Check out the world premiere footage of the Reach’s multiplayer Alpha in action and get a glimpse at whats on tap for the upcoming public Beta. You can take it for a test spin yourself in May using your copy of Halo 3: ODST to gain access."

The internet was abuzz today with news pertaining a creative dispute between Infinity Ward and Activision. Yesterday there was vague news that Activision had fired Jason West and Vince Zampella, Infinity Ward’s top two executives. The news first broke in a financial filing that said that the two had been dismissed due to insubordination and breach of contract.

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Kotaku did some sleuthing and appears that the the relationship between the two parties was at a breaking point. They spoke to an anonymous source who told them that Infinity Ward had a problem with different studios handling the Call of Duty franchise. In an effort to try and meet the developer half way Activision signed an exclusive contract with the studio, which gave them the sole rights to develop Call of Duty games set in modern times.

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Infinity Ward still wasn’t completely happy with the situation, and things began to get a little tense in their communication with Activision. Things took a turn for the worse when Infinity Ward (which is largely viewed as a one game studio due to their success with Modern Warfare) decided that they wanted to make a new IP, possibly being set in the future. Activision vetoed the idea and their relationship with IW further deteriorated.

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Now shots have been fired (figure of speech) and Activision has terminated Jason West and Vince Zampella, two executives who have spent a great deal of time with Infinity Ward. Reports also indicate that Activision has also officially announced that they will be bringing on a third studio to develop Call of Duty games.

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We’ll just have to wait until the next iteration of Modern Warfare to see how this pans out. I hope it doesn’t end up affecting the product, because that would just be lousy for everyone involved. Well maybe not for Activision, they’ll probably sell a gazillion copies of the next Modern Warfare game regardless of who develops it.

Players of Forza Motorsport 3 will be pleased to find out that there are four new DLC packs available now. Turn 10 have stated that for each purchase of the VIP Membership Car Pack, $10 will be donated to Save the Children. That money will be directly spent on victims of the recent Haiti earthquakes.

Here are the details:

•Sidewinder Proving Grounds Track Pack (400 / $5) — This pack features 18 courses, including an updated version of the Sidewinder Proving Grounds from Forza Motorsport 2.

•Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack (400 / $5) — A four-mile stretch of road to test your car’s mettle, the Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack also features a large parking lot environment for online multiplayer games of “Tag” and “Keep It Clean.”

•Motorsports Legends Car Pack (400 / $5) — As suggested by the name, this pack features 10 of racing’s most classic cars: 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Stradale, 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage, 1981 BMW Motorsport M1, 1960 Chevrolet Corvette, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi, 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth, 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400, 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R, and the 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.

•VIP Membership Car Pack (800 / $10) — This pack unlocks VIP status for your profile in Forza 3, giving you special recognition as a VIP on leaderboards, in multiplayer lobbies, on ForzaMotorsport.net, in the in-game storefront and places your auctions at the top of the Forza 3 auction house. It also unlocks five additional cards: 2008 Aston Martin DBS, 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2007 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, and the 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997).

Microsoft has recently revealed information about an upcoming Splinter Cell: Conviction 360 bundle. The bundle will have:

• A 250GB Hard Drive
• A standard copy of Splinter Cell Conviction
• 2 Controllers

The bundle will cost $399, and is due for an April release.

A couple days ago we posted a story detailing a complaint against Microsoft by a gamer name iTzLuPo and a Xbox LIVE moderator named The Pro. Many had seen some videos posted detailing what eventually led up to iTzLuPo getting banned for breaking the rules in a match of Modern Warfare 2. While he pleaded and begged for the public to believe that his initial YouTube posting was in fact legit, after The House of Gates said it was carefully edited. The truth has been revealed. 

In a recent interview with Destructoid, group project manager Aaron Greenberg stated his beliefs about the 360’s potential to outsell the Playstation 3.

“We never underestimate the competition,” exclaimed Greenberg. “We know they have a lot of great games. They’re very formidable. They have great history in this industry.

According to a Brink sweepstakes event featured on GameStop’s website, Brink was listed as having a release date of September 7, 2010. Bethesda has stated that this release date is nothing more than ‘speculative.’

Speaking to Joystiq, Bethesda stated that “At times retailers will assign a release date for a game that falls within the game’s announced launch window. While we have announced that Brink is due out in Fall 2010, we have yet to announce an official release date for the game."