Via the LA Times Blog comes the story of the day that in addition to the previous lawsuit Activision faces with the former Infinity Ward heads West and Zampella a new lawsuit was filed against the company today by 38 IW employees according to the article.

Of the 38 employees involved in the suit the story says that 21 are former employees of Infinity Ward and that the remaining 17 are current IW employees.

Activision responded to the suit the story updated later in the day with this:

“Activision believes the action is without merit,” a company spokesman said in response to the suit. “Activision retains the discretion to determine the amount and the schedule of bonus payments for [Modern Warfare 2] and has acted consistent with its rights and the law at all times. We look forward to getting judicial confirmation that our position is right.”

What a bizarre saga this is becoming. The turmoil has gotten to the point where nobody knows at this point exactly what’s going to remain of Infinity Ward as a brand after all this settles. – The Ben

This week Brian, and occasional writer Grey sit down to talk about the news of the week. including a look at the continued infinity ward blow up. Battle.net Bannings, and square enix’s “not quite” game announcement. Additionally they of course also discuss the games they have been playing through out the week.

Life Inside the Box – 091 – Like the Color [ 48:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Via NeoGaf comes a link to Microsoft’s Q3 2009-2010 results for the past fiscal year.

Of note is the tidbit of info that the 360 has finally passed the 40 million mark in terms of sold consoles. It’s hard to believe that the 360 will be nearing it’s fifth birthday this fall but there it is. Going by previous generations the 360′s passed not only it’s older sibling but legacy systems like the Genesis and the N64.

If this were any previous generation we’d be well into that time when the rumblings of what the “NEXT-GEN” will bring and every magazine and site’s E3 predictions would go wild as speculation over dubious news goes on for months until the show itself hits. But this generation of console gaming has changed the rules in more ways than one and this matter is no different. While different SKU’s and internal chips are announced and revisions to consoles will keep coming, the next-gen is nothing but a dream for most of the industry at this point it seems. – The Ben

This week Brian and Kyle get together and talk what they’ve been playing, as well as cover the latest news, including: Will Wrights new TV show, the March NPD’s and Take 2′s latest game announcement.

Life Inside the Box – 090 – In for a Quickie [ 23:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Once again thanks to NeoGaf the lates batch of NPD numbers for last month are here for all to gaze upon:

PlayStation 2 118.3K
PlayStation 3 313.9K
PSP 119.9K
Xbox 360 338.4K
Wii 557.5K
Nintendo DS 700.8K

GOD OF WAR III* PS3 SONY Mar-10 1.10M
POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA Mar-10 1.02M
FINAL FANTASY XIII PS3 SQUARE ENIX Mar-10 828.2K
BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Mar-10 825.5K
POKEMON HEARTGOLD VERSION NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA Mar-10 761.2K
FINAL FANTASY XIII 360 SQUARE ENIX Mar-10 493.9K
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 457.4K
BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 PS3 ELECTRONIC ARTS Mar-10 451.2K
WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 429.6K
MLB 10: THE SHOW PS3 SONY Mar-10 349.2K

DS and Wii back on top after a shortage last month while the 360 stays ahead of the PS3 even with God of War 3 taking the Top Spot in software sales. Also of note is the fact that the 360 version of FF XIII didn’t quite reach the same level of sales as the PS3 one did, and that the Soul Silver version of the latest Pokemon game performed better than the Hear Gold version.

Oh and the PSP just barely outsold the PS2 for the month. There’s nothing more really you can say about that situation. But hey perhaps Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will give the system one more big push in sales before the PSP 2 shows up sometime in the near future? – The Ben

By Kevin Myers

Six years have passed since Painkiller was released, and “People Can Fly”‘s first game, which came out in April of 2004, was purchased for this reviewer on Good Old Games for less than the cost of a Taco Bell Grande Meal. At the time of its release, it received nowhere near the fanfare or attention that Doom 3 or Halo 2 received; both games in the same vein as Painkiller. This baffles me, since, at its core, this game does what neither Doom 3 or Halo 2 managed to accomplish. Both of those games were, to some extent, bogged down under the weight of their own pretensions.

Halo 2 was a placeholder. Meant to fill in the space in the storyline between Halo 1 and Halo 3, there was little feeling of accomplishment, and little added to the gameplay of the series beyond an energy sword and the necessity of the “Mute” button on the X-Box live headset. Doom 3 decided it felt like trying to play with the big boys of immerse gameplay like Silent Hill, F.E.A.R., and System Shock, and ended up making a bit of an embarrassment of itself.

Painkiller does neither of these things. Painkiller sits down, hands you a gun that fires sharpened baseball bats, a fist-mounted turbo-charged Garden Weasel, and seventeen million demons between you and your wife at the pearly gates of heaven. No part of that previous sentence is made up in any way.

You, Daniel Garner, are sent to Purgatory for unspecified reasons following the auto accident that kills both you and your wife. You are then contacted, some unspecified length of time later by an albino named Samael. Either this is a staggering coincidence, or this half of the Matrix Revolutions Twins is meant to be the Archangel Samael, Archangel of Death, and a fallen angel on par with Satan for bragging rights in the supernatural spiritual power department. Why then, he needs you, a man who looks like the angriest potato to ever stand upright, to slay the generals of Satan’s Armies rather than engaging in the conflict himself, is a bit of a puzzlement. The game decides to gloss over this, as well as the introduction of both Eve, of the garden variety, and Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, Chief Demon of Lust, Lord of the Second Pit, King of Shades, and Husband of Lillith. The game pays pretty much no interest in these characters motivations, backstories, or established identities, and instead, focuses on you butchering the unmerciful shit out of everything between you and reunification with your wife.

Painkiller performs that focused intent masterfully. In the same vein as Serious Sam, and the first two Dooms, Painkiller stands up a slew of varied, delightfully detailed enemies between you and the glowing pentagram marking the level end, and waits patiently for you to unleash a world of ruination upon all and sundry between these two points. The Painkiller itself, a whirling bladed contraption on the end of your arm, seems like a cross between a Power Juicer, a folding metal colander, and Link’s Hookshot. I really can’t do it justice with that previous sentence, but, leave it as read that it is a visceral joy to use, as are all the weapons in this straight-up genocide-a-thon.

There is a phrase I have been struggling this entire review not to use, used by a much more polished and experienced reviewer than myself, regarding one of the weapons in this game, but there is a gun that shoots Shurikens and Lightning and Shurikens charged with Lightning that arcs between nearby enemies. There is no part of this that is not blisteringly awesome. There is a gun that shoots re-bar and pinball grenades. There is a gun that is both a rocket-launcher AND a mini-gun. There is a Mini-gun that is also a Flame-thrower that fires flaming barrels of propane. The entire arsenal of this game reads like they grouped a number of seven year olds from 1987 into a room, fed them as much caffeine as they could hold, and then let them describe what would be the single most awesome way to kill an angry skeleton.

The game shines. Stellarly. Both when it was released, and today. Modern first person shooters, such as Rogue Warrior, Shellshocked 2, or C.O.R.E. Simply lack the spirit, focus, and tight to the frame gameplay that Painkiller still offers. With a multiplayer mode that is a bunnyhopping blast-to-the-past reminiscent of the finest moments in Quake and Unreal, Painkiller sits firmly in a niche of titles that have stood the test of time, in their designed oeuvre.

This week the whole gang; Brian, Kyle, Kevin and Stephen are back with another Theory Craft episodes about the games industry. This week they take a look at what gamers should expect from Main Stream Critics when looking at reviews.

Life Inside the Box – 089 – The Metaphorical Bull show 2.0 [ 1:08:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Via IGN comes the news that the first map pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was downloaded over one million times in the first twenty-four hours of it’s release and would go on to sell over 2.5 million copies over the course of the week.

The map pack was priced at $15 dollars and only available on Xbox Live in comparison to the first World at War map pack that was available on both the PS3 and 360 last year which sold 1 million digital copies in the first week as well at $10 dollars according to IGN.

Everyone seems to have mixed feelings about this news. While it’s good that gamers are enjoying themselves with new content for a game that’s almost half a year old (showing that a franchise like Call of Duty is immune to that “DLC must happen in the first six weeks of a game’s launch or else the public won’t bite” rule) the fact that Infinity Ward’s achievements are currently still in the public eye for all the wrong reasons makes this victory bittersweet for some. – The Ben

This week Brian, Kyle and Kevin weather a slow news week by taking a look at gaming as a broader subject in what they call a Metaphorical Bullshit episode. This week they look at the 10 commandments of DLC and add a few of thier own.

Life Inside the Box – 088 – The Metaphorical Bull show [ 1:18:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download