Gearbox trademarks 'Modern War Hero,' instrument compatibility unconfirmed

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jun 24th 2009 at 1:15PM }

Oooh! We get it now. Gearbox wants Infinity Ward to quit making war games so it can get a piece. After the last Brother in Arms made a hasty retreat for the bargain bin, Gearbox looks like it could be deploying a new strategy: the Trojan horse.

A slew of new trademarks suggests the studio might try to sneak future games off of store shelves and into consumers' homes by disguising them as a cross between Activision's growing "Hero" brand and its Call of Duty games. Among the trademarked: "War Hero," "World War II Hero," "Brother In Arms War Hero," and -- saving the best for last -- "Modern War Hero." We can hear the conversation at GameStop already:

Madden Guy #1: Modern War Hero? Hey, bro, this the new Call of Duty?
Madden Guy #2: Yeah, broheim. Definitely.
Madden Guy #1: Sweeeeeet! New Madden ain't out yet -- I'm all over this.
Madden Guy #2: True. I'm not gonna lie, it sounds like you can play with your Guitar Hero guitar.
Madden Guy #1: Dude. Niiiiiice.

Tags: brothers-in-arms, brothers-in-arms-war-hero, gearbox, modern-war-hero, trademark, war-hero, world-war-ii-hero

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

DWells55 @ Jun 24th 2009 1:20PM

Seriously?

charlie b. @ Jun 24th 2009 4:18PM

don't know about you, but i'm gonna go move into an underground cave now.

sony boy @ Jun 24th 2009 1:22PM

What. The. Fuck.

copa @ Jun 24th 2009 1:32PM

Gearbox? Moar like TOOLbox, amirite?

But where the fuck do these guys get off calling out developers for being unoriginal and doing to many sequels?

Let's recap. This is GEARBOX, the development studio who's only claim to fame is:

1. Developing an expansion for Half-Life, because the original dev team couldn't be bothered.
2. Developing an expansion for Counter-Strike, because the original dev team couldn't be bothered.
3. Developing one of those sequels in the Tony Hawk franchise.
4. Developing 8,162 games Brothers In Arms games, in the highly original WW2 shooter genre.

Wow, you guys are just indie gods, aren't you? If Jonathan Blow and Jenova Chen had a lovechild, it would be Gearbox Software!

aristokrat @ Jun 24th 2009 1:42PM

I think they're making fun of Activision with these trademarks, and doubt they will ever use them. Though I wonder if this counts as abuse of the trademark system or something. Maybe they'll offer them to Activision, which I'm sure Kotick will just eat up.

Drauglim @ Jun 24th 2009 2:31PM

Not to mention porting Halo to the computer Copa, that was pretty damn original of them.

finnith @ Jun 24th 2009 3:11PM

In their defense some of their games (Opposing Force, the second Brothers in Arms) were somewhat well-received by critics.

Kattleox @ Jun 24th 2009 1:24PM

FINALLY A GITAROO MAN SEQUEL!!!!!

BananaBoat @ Jun 24th 2009 1:36PM

Kitaaaaaaaaaaaa~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AvA (ice~) @ Jun 24th 2009 1:24PM

that's pretty scummy.

Storm Eagle @ Jun 24th 2009 1:24PM

http://www.audiogrid.com/guitar/hondo_M-16.jpg

Windmill strumming and killing action confirmed!

Storm Eagle @ Jun 24th 2009 1:29PM

No. Wait. THIS ONE. http://media.photobucket.com/image/guitar%20gun/frethand2/KaneRobertsGunGuitar.jpg

LordToastington @ Jun 24th 2009 1:31PM

I wonder how those things sound.

Storm Eagle @ Jun 24th 2009 1:44PM

Like Death. Or Iron Maiden turned up to 11. Either way....pretty fucking good I'd imagine.

ArchiGamer @ Jun 24th 2009 1:51PM

Guitar Gunblade?

NoughtSoClever @ Jun 24th 2009 2:07PM

Or just Guntar

Jawmuncher @ Jun 24th 2009 1:24PM

I can't wait to shoot people online while playing "AMERICA FUCK YEAH" on my guitar controller at the same time

Heavytoka @ Jun 24th 2009 1:28PM

MaliceMajorE15 @ Jun 24th 2009 1:37PM

is america fuck yeah from team america world police?

aristokrat @ Jun 24th 2009 1:40PM

You are correct.

Storm Eagle @ Jun 24th 2009 1:44PM

Comin' again to save the mothafuckin' day, yeah!
America! FUCK YEAH!
Jesus is the only way!

Captain Planet @ Jun 24th 2009 1:25PM

This makes my head hurted.

Steven @ Jun 24th 2009 1:28PM

I dont get it..?

WINterfang @ Jun 24th 2009 1:31PM

..... I..well I supp..I don't know what to say.

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Jun 24th 2009 1:33PM

Um... guys... you know... a War Hero... as a person who performed heroic acts during the war. I guess that's the sense of the trademark... Joystiq just tries to mindfuck you into getting a permanent "plastic instrument" reference, every time you hear the word "hero".

I think it's a textual version of this:
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/808987/1243417820088.jpg
Once you make the connection in your brain, you cannot unmake it.

AvA (ice~) @ Jun 24th 2009 1:39PM

GOLDEN EYE WHYYYYYYY!!!!!!?????!!! You've ruined my childhood.

Storm Eagle @ Jun 24th 2009 1:47PM

So you're saying that once I see that Goldeneye box art as "Oh shit, we totally stretched his mouth out! - Just put a gun there, it looks like his fist anyway.", we'll always perceive it that way?

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Jun 24th 2009 2:19PM

Don't know about you Storm Eagle, but it worked for me. And, judging by the comments above me, it (the 'Hero' bit) worked for Joystiq audience too.

gib @ Jun 24th 2009 5:55PM

007 would be amazing at Modern War Hero, as long as it isn't Roger Moore.

ArchiGamer @ Jun 24th 2009 1:34PM

A war of notes and sounds.

AND GUITAR RIFFS!!!!

uncle jesse @ Jun 24th 2009 1:37PM

Comment Hero

Felipe @ Jun 24th 2009 1:49PM

TOP SCORE!!

gib @ Jun 24th 2009 6:44PM

I guess that means Shag is Downvote Hero

aristokrat @ Jun 24th 2009 1:40PM

Maybe this was actually an attempt to stand behind their previous statements. I see tomorrow's headline running along the lines of "Gearbox sells "Modern War Hero" name to Activision, Infinity Ward team found dead from seppuku".

I bet Kotick is mad that he didn't think of this himself, as he probably envisions a future where every game Activision publishes ends with Hero. Racing Hero, Temple Hero, Football Hero, etc.