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Tag: Activision

  • Oliver North Pitches Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

    Retired Lieutenant Commander Oliver North is know for many things. Video game pitchman is now on that list. A teaser trailer of sorts was released by Activision that features Colonel North sitting on a stool talking about how scary war is going to be in the future. He makes statements like “I’m not worried about the guy who wants to hijack one plane, I’m worried about the guy who wants to hijack all the planes.”

    The Video is shot in a documentary style and also features P.W. Singer (Author of Wired For War) talking about what the reality of war in the near future is going to be. Weapons that are extremely accurate and deadly. Robots that need little to no human interactivity to perform their duties. Railguns and lasers for the battlefield. In reality it is the future of the battlefield, put to a scary soundtrack, and we have a sweet video that makes you want to see more.

    Unfortunately, Kotaku has decided to turn a video game commercial into a political hotpoint by using their service to remind people of the fact that Lt Col. North was charged with lying to congress in the 80’s about selling weapons to Iran. No where does it mention the Silver Star, Bronze Star and two Purple Heart medals that he earned as an actual war hero. Upon the publishing of their article, Twitter semi-erupted:

    i know that was oliver north in that commercial. anyway, did i just see oliver north in a video game commercial? 14 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    That ten-minute-long ad starring Oliver North really makes me want to play your war video game. Good spokesman, video game company 14 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Oliver North is shilling the new Call of Duty while trying to scare you: http://t.co/pKpardEr (Would be tackier if he shilled a new Contra) 14 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Am I the only person disturbed to see Oliver North hawking video games? http://t.co/LbGLGxAr 30 minutes ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Did anyone find it weird that Oliver North was in a commercial promoting #CallofDuty? What, is there an arms dealer in Black Ops II? 4 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @BenKuchera 457: If you pre-order now Oliver North will sell weapons to a country of your choice 11 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    MT @paramnesiac: @JebBoone Maybe there’s a mini-game, you shred documents and lie to Congress to keep the ops a secret. http://t.co/a9cVd8qb 56 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    oliver north should be just as successful selling call of duty as he was weapons to iran because to americans it is basically the same thing 2 minutes ago via Plume for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Call Of Duty: Black Ops II Web Site Opens In The UK

    We reported on Sunday that the next Call of Duty game would be called Black Ops II thanks to some leaked preorder cards. Thanks to the UK Web site for the game going live prematurely, we can confirm that this is indeed the case.

    If you head over to the UK version of the Call of Duty Web site, you’ll be greeted by a big Black Ops II splash page. There’s not much to do on the Web site yet because everything is still locked away. The worst part is that the trailer is sitting there for us to watch, but it’s being listed as private until the official reveal tonight.

    We can confirm a few things about the game from the Web site though. The game is indeed taking place in a modern day setting. What’s more interesting is that the Web site says that it’s set in a “near-future, 21st century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare.” The first Black Ops was set during the original Cold War so it’s nice to see Treyarch sticking with the theme. I just wonder if the Russians are still going to be the enemies of this modern Cold War or if they’re going to introduce China as a threat.

    While we don’t have access to the trailer just yet, we can see a screen cap of the YouTube video. Unfortunately, there’s not much to go off of except that there’s going to be a helicopter, smoke and the setting, at least for the trailer, is a near-future Los Angeles.

    Call of Duty: Black Ops II Web Site

    We’ll keep an eye out for trailer leaks throughout the day, but the official reveal will be tonight during the NBA playoffs on TNT. While Call of Duty has been the subject of numerous leaks and early information, it looks like Activision is keeping a pretty tight lid on Black Ops II. I wouldn’t be surprised if the early launch of the UK Web site was just a marketing tactic to drum up excitement for tonight’s trailer, especially among the dudebros.

    Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be launching on November 13 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

    Do you like the “21st century Cold War” setting? Or do you think that Call of Duty should have gone for a different time or setting? Let us know in the comments.

  • Next Call Of Duty Will Be Black Ops 2, Coming Out November 13

    It looks like a few of the Call of Duty rumors have come true. It turns out that the next Call of Duty will be released on November 13 as previously suggested. It was also suggested that the game would be called Call of Duty: Eclipse to coincide with the full solar eclipse that would be happening that Tuesday. Unfortunately, the next Call of Duty won’t have a creative title.

    IGN got the scoop from a couple of Target pre-order cards that the next Call of Duty will indeed be called Black Ops 2. If its any consolation, the title uses roman numerals for the “2” and it’s still a better title than Medal of Honor: Warfighter. All joking aside, it was pretty much a given that the next Call of Duty title would be a continuation of 2010’s Black Ops after the leaked box art last week.

    Call of Duty Black Ops 2

    Of course, the question is now whether or not the game will continue with Black Ops Cold War theme. The rumors floating around now point to a near future warfare scenario. If you’re confused, think the kind of technology used in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and this year’s Future Soldier. If that’s the case, we could be treated to one of the more interesting Call of Duty titles in recent years after Modern Warfare 3 failed to impress on many levels.

    The rumors from last week also pointed to a revamped multiplayer with a bevy of new modes that should make multiplayer more exciting. There was also a leaked list of perks that point to a more intense multiplayer.

    Black Ops II will be officially unveiled during the NBA playoffs this Tuesday on TNT. We’ll get a few more details at that time. Stay tuned for more news on what is inevitably going to be one of the biggest releases of the year.

  • Modern Warfare 3 Free On Steam This Weekend

    Steam, an online digital distribution platform from Valve, occasionally offers up free to play weekends.

    Just announced on the official Steam store is a free to play weekend for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3! All you have to do is to pre load the game and be ready when the free weekend starts on Thursday, April 26th at 10am PST.

    To access the free weekend, just go to your Steam account and Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer should be listed under your games.

    Modern Warfare 3 is the wildly successful sequel in the Call of Duty franchise that features over 50 million games sold and a whopping 3 billion dollars in sales. In recent weeks game analysts have speculated that the franchise has indeed reached it’s peak. Partly due to competitors like Battlefield, but also due to the lagging economy.

  • Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 Leaked Box Art [Rumor]

    Ever since Call of Duty 4 hit shelves on November 7, 2007, there has been nearly no stopping the behemoth. The COD franchise has racked up nearly $3 billion in revenue while selling 55 million copies. As of right now there are 40 million active players across all copies (COD4, COD:WAW, COD:MW2, COD:BO, COD:MW3). So as you can see, whenever there is any news about a new Call of Duty game, it tends to be huge news.

    The news today on Kotaku is a possible leaked box art picture. The box art comes from Italy and was featured on the Twitter feed of @MW3Updates. It can be looked at as very suspect if you look at a few things. The conveniently placed flash on the front, the Playstation 2 box, old Xbox 360 banner. But there are things like the new Call Of Duty font, and also has the same high resolution photo from other leaked art that make it look legit.

    Some long term analysts have started to speculate that the Call of Duty franchise, while extremely successful is starting to peak. Modern Warfare 3 peaked earlier than other franchises and people are ditching new Call of Duty game faster than ever before. Add on to that the fact that there are more competing franchises like Battlefield 3.

    There is a teaser poster seen above, speculation is that it is probably about the reveal of Black Ops 2 during the NBA playoffs.

    Supposed promotional Black Ops 2 case. What do you think, legit or fake? http://t.co/eqsEjh3L 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • New Call Of Duty Title To Be Revealed On May 1

    You can count on a new Call of Duty title coming every year, but Activision still likes to treat the reveal as a big deal. This year is no different with the official Call of Duty site displaying a teaser and a countdown for the big reveal on May 1. If that was the only part of this story, it wouldn’t be that exciting. It’s a good thing there’s more – lots more.

    Military shooter fan site MP1st has been digging into the rumors and speculation for the next Call of Duty title. What we do know now is that the next title is being developed by Treyarch, developers of 2010’s Black Ops. That’s it! Well, not really, but that’s the only confirmed news we have. The other rumors are a bit more interesting.

    First and foremost, it seems like the next game in the franchise might not be called Black Ops 2. Other rumors point to the game’s title being Call of Duty: Eclipse with a rumored release date of November 13. Why November 13? There will a total solar eclipse on that day which syncs up perfectly with the rumored title.

    MP1st also got their hands on a rumored leak of all the new game modes and perks making their way into Black Ops 2, Eclipse or whatever you want to call it. Treyarch did some interesting stuff with the multiplayer in Black Ops and it’s looking like the studio is doing it again with the sequel.

    The first new game mode is called Escort which sees a team escorting a player as they pick up three flags. If the opposing team manages to kill the escorted player, it will be a win for the opposing team.

    The next mode is supposedly called Split Spawn. This sees players spawning from a helicopter and they have to climb down from it to reach the ground. One player is in charge of controlling the chopper while others can stay in the chopper to provide cover fire. If the chopper is destroyed, players lose their only means of respawning. There is also a flag to capture that “takes 2x as long to capture than a regular domination flag.” Capturing said flag or the death of all opposing players will grant victory.

    The final game mode is the most interesting and the one I hope is real. It’s called Equalizer and for good reason. Upon death, a player is transferred to the opposing team. During this, the teams compete for a flag that opens up a power plant. This plant allows players to customize their class during the match and opens up the ability to suit up in a juggernaut suit. If there are two players left on a team, they are automatically granted the power plant. At this point, team members also don’t transfer to the other side.

    Here is a list of the leaked perks coming to the game as well with the base, pro and elite versions of said perk.

    1. Spy – Appear as a friend on the map. (Disadvantage is, you’re always spotted even without a UAV, and when shooting, you turn red on the map)
    b. Pro – Detect enemy spies. They will still always be spotted on the radar.
    c. Elite – If Pilot is active, your airship will be marked as an ally.

    2. Escape Artist – When going prone, you feign death (You cannot shoot during)
    b. Pro – When approaching death, the enemies crosshairs will turn to white, and your name will dissapear.
    c. Elite – if Diver is active – You realistically fall into your feign death instead of diving.

    3. Audiophile – Players with silenced weapons will show on your radar if they are shooting at you or close around you.
    b. Pro – Footsteps are louder
    c. Elite – If bladesman is active – kniving will show up on the radar

    4. Defuser – Throw all equipment but cookable grenades up to 2x farther – a hollow circle will show up around your crosshairs, and the circle will fill in 3 seconds. When the circle is full, it will throw 2x farther, when it is empty, it will throw 1x as far.
    b. Pro – Be able to take semtex off of players and throw them elsewhere, and be able to pick up any enemy equipment and use it as your own.
    c. Elite – if quickdraw is active – the circle will fill in 1.5 seconds.

    5. Juggernaut – Regenerate health faster while moving
    b. Pro – Regenerate health faster while crouched
    c. Elite – If scavenger is active – you are able to drop ammo packs for your team.

    6. Diver – You can dive into cover (A.K.A. Dolphin Dive) – and while diving you can still shoot, however when you land it takes awhile to regain focus.
    b. Pro – You crawl 2x faster
    c. Elite – With Extreme conditioning active – You can sprint while crawling to crawl faster (3x) instead of getting up.

    7. Pilot – Your flying killstreak’s kills will count towards your next killstreak.
    b. Pro – Your controllable flying killstreaks will last until they are shot down.
    c. Elite – With blind eye active – Your uncontrollable flying killstreaks will not show on the map.

    8. Technician – Any land killstreak’s kills will count towards your next killstreak.
    b. Pro – Your Advnaced UAVS will disable the enemies UAV
    c. Elite – If defuser is active, your sentries cannot be taken down instantly.

    9. Bladesman – You have 2 knives in each hand instead of just one in one hand. (This essentially makes knives kill twice as fast.)
    b. Pro – You have a chance of dodging the incoming players knife.
    c. Elite – If assasin is active – kniving will be completely silent and not show on the killfeed, unless countered by audiophile elite.

    10. Conciousness – While standing, you are just as accurate as when you are prone
    b. Pro – Your bullets cause more flinching.
    c. Elite – If marksman is active – shooting your enemy will mark him on the mini map.

    11. Focus – Be able to shoot while sprinting, even at the deduction of accuracy.
    b. Pro – Be able to shoot while jumping, even at the deduction of accuracy.
    c. Elite – If stalker is active – when jumping, equipment does less damage to you.

    12. Deep Impact – Your bullets shoot through hard surfaces.
    b. Pro – Your bullets gain 50% damage with each person they go through.
    c. Elite – if steady aim is active – when hip-firing, your bullets have 10% more damage with each person they go through.

    Alongside all of this, there are also leaks of the new guns, attachments and knife skills that will be making it into the next Call of Duty game.

    It’s important to note that all of this is rumor and conjecture for now. It’s not like last year where all the major details of Modern Warfare 3 were leaked weeks before the official unveil. It’s not smart to get your hopes up just yet. I personally hope that at least the new game modes are legitimate because Equalizer sounds like a blast.

    Take the rumors as you will, but the official unveil will take place on May 1 during the NBA playoffs on TNT. Only then will we get our first real look at whatever the next Call of Duty game is.

    Do you think the rumors are legitimate? Are you excited for the official unveiling on May 1? Let us know in the comments.

  • Turn-Based Call Of Duty Prototype Footage Leaked

    A long time ago before the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Activision had big plans for the franchise. While they had Infinity Ward and Treyarch working on the first-person shooter aspects of the title, the publisher hired on Sledgehammer Games to create a third-person Call of Duty title. On top of that, there were some rumors of a turn-based Call of Duty title in the works.

    While the fate of Sledgehammer’s third-person project is still up in the air as they were taken off of it to help Infinity Ward finish MW3, we now have proof of the turn-based game’s existence and subsequent cancellation. Military shooter fan site MP1st has found footage of the turn-based Call of Duty title.

    The game is obviously set during World War II and it sure looks like a turn-based game. The game was being developed by Vicarious Visions, the Activision developer that usually handles the Nintendo Wii ports of its titles. This would have been their first major primary console release in a long time, so it’s too bad the game was cancelled.

    It makes you wonder why Activision cancelled the project. It makes most sense that the Call of Duty crowd wouldn’t be interested in a tactical turn-based shooter. Still, it would have been a nice change of pace for the franchise.

    Twitter user superannuation was the first to uncover the project. The tweet prior to the leak said that he had been sitting on it for a while.

    Check out the footage and see what could have been:

    What do you think of a turn-based Call of Duty title? Do you think it would have been a good side project for the franchise? Let us know in the comments.

    [h/t: Reddit]

  • Transformers Fall Of Cybertron Features Grimlock!

    One of the most exciting things about video games, is that the people in charge these days, love the same stuff I did when I was a kid. For me the High Moon Studios Transformers games represents the culmination of my childhood dreams of wanting to be a Dinobot, and there is no better Transformer than the leader of the Dinobots, Grimlock. In Transformers Fall Of Cyberton we finally get to play as the not too bright but immensely powerful space T-Rex.

    In a Kotaku exclusive, we get to see some action. Grimlock features a purely melee style “tank” character, who is great at taking out a ton of enemies. He has the ability to build up his “Rage Meter” which gets stronger with every enemy killed. When the meter gets filled, the ass-kicking space T-Rex comes to life. The T-Rex mode has it’s own unique set of moves including the ability to bite and rip enemies in half and shoot fire!

    Transformer Fall Of Cyberton is set to be released in North America on August 28th, 2012 and worldwide on August 31st, 2012. The game is being released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

    ME GRIMLOCK SHOW YOU FIRST GAMEPLAY! Check out this exclusive sneak peek on Kotaku… can’t wait to show you more. http://t.co/4UOkh4mt 23 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • 007 Legends Melds Six Classic James Bond Movies Into One Game

    James Bond is turning 50 this year – well, at least the film franchise. Dr. No hit theaters in 1962, and the world was introduced to the screen version of the legendary hero (as well as Ursula Andress in a bikini). In celebration of that defining moment in cinema, Activision is announcing that the new James Bond game is going to incorporate a lot of history.

    007 Legends will apparently tie in the “most iconic and intense undercover missions” from the franchise into one game. All in all, six different movies will be included in the storyline. Activision isn’t letting on which films will play a role, however. But we do know that the finale of the game, so to speak, will mirror Skyfall, the new Bond film that’s set to release this November.

    “To honor 50 years of the world’s top secret agent, 007 Legends offers a collection of his most famed moments in the smartest and most treacherous Bond game yet,” said David Oxford, Executive Vice President at Activision Publishing, Inc. “Creating a video game storyline that ties together six popular, yet very different, Bond movie narratives can be challenging, but together with EON Productions, our developer Eurocom, has pulled it off to create an homage that we think will be a unique and highly entertaining Bond video game.”

    007 legends james bond game

    As far as the actual gameplay goes, we’re getting the Mi6 Ops Missions from GoldenEye 007: Reloaded back. It sounds like it will appeal to the broad base of fans of previous Bond games, with big fire-fights, stealth play, and gadget play. No surprise – the game will feature both local and online multiplayer. One new aspect of 007 Legends will be the ability to play as other characters in the mission mode (friends and enemies) so that you can “relive the missions through their eyes.”

    The game will hit the shelves some time in the Fall on Xbox 360 and PS3.

  • Sleeping Dogs, Spiritual Successor To True Crime, Launches In August

    A long time ago in the far off year of 2009, Activision announced a new game in the True Crime franchise. It was to be called True Crime: Hong Kong and feature a story of a cop going undercover into the seedy world of the Triads. It was never meant to be, however, since Activision canceled the game in 2011. Shortly after, Square Enix picked up the game, renamed it Sleeping Dogs and now it’s finally seeing the light of day.

    Square Enix announced today that Sleeping Dogs will be launching in the U.S. on August 14 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The game is a “gritty open world cop drama set in the vibrant city of Hong Kong.” While the game will be following the precedent set by previous open world games, it does have a few things that sets it apart. For one, it features a fully integrated melee combat system for players to use martial arts moves on enemies. Here’s my favorite part of the description:

    “Players perform bone-crushing kicks and combos, vicious counters, and a cinematic set of environmental takedowns making use of countless real-world items from circular saws to phone booths, incinerators to refrigerator doors.”

    If that doesn’t make you excited, you obviously don’t like environmentally influenced violence. Very few melee focused combat games let the player take advantage of the environment around them, so it’s always a delight to see a game that does.

    While the games doesn’t come out until August, there’s always an incentive to pre-order and Square Enix is splitting it up across the same three retailers as Resident Evil 6. You will be able to pre-order the game from Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon for three different in-game DLC packs.

    The Best Buy DLC is called the Georges St. Pierre pack and features the following:

    GSP’s signature “flying punch”
    Exclusive GSP outfit including T-shirts, headband and shorts
    GSP’s outfit unlocks the “flying punch” and increases grappling and throwing damage

    GameStop gets the Police Protection Pack which includes the following:

    Exclusive “High Speed” Mission
    Exclusive HK Police SWAT Outfit
    Exclusive assault rifle
    Exclusive SWAT Police Vehicle

    Finally, Amazon gets the following items in the Martial Arts Pack:

    Shaolin Showdown Mission
    Shaolin Warrior outfit (with increased striking damage)
    Bonus Triad XP points
    Wing Chun decoration for safehouse (with temporary combat buff)

    The digitally downloadable PC version will also get some form of exclusive content. Square Enix is staying mum for now, but they will announce these details at a later date.

    With Grand Theft Auto V possibly launching this year, I don’t know if people have it in them to play another open world crime game. If you are itching for some underground criminal syndicate action, however, check out the trailer for Sleeping Dogs to see if it does it for you.

  • Call of Duty Creative Strategist Resigns

    A creative strategist and the most recognizable spokesperson for the Call of Duty Modern Warfare series, Robert Bowling, has resigned from his position at Infinity Ward. Bowling had become the face of the franchise after joining Infinity Ward in 2006.

    Bowling announced his resignation via Twitter:

    Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist of Call of Duty, as a lead of Infinity Ward, and as an employee of Activision. 22 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The reason for Bowling leaving his position is unknown, but the situation seems amicable, with Infinity Ward tweeting its best wishes for Bowling soon after his announcement:

    We wish Robert all the best. Thanks for everything. For continued MW updates & all things IW follow @infinityward. 22 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Reaction on Twitter is mixed, ranging from wholehearted support, to disbelief, and even relief:

    WAIT WHATTTT?
    http://t.co/n9P0fof4 3 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Huge thanks to the 433289484 douchers who made a video about Robert Bowling Resigning. I would have never have known if it wasn’t for you. 34 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Robert Bowling fucked COD up. His resignation may very well bring COD back from the dead. 44 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @fourzerotwo Thanks for the professionalism and and good luck with your next projects. 2 hours ago via Tweetings for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 DLC Launches Today For XBLA

    Previously only available to Call of Duty Elite members. The DLC titled: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection #1, is the largest single release of DLC in COD history. Collection #1 is available first on Xbox LIVE for 1,200 Microsoft Points, or $14.99. The DLC pack will be rolled out to other platforms at a later date.

    “Call of Duty® MW3 Content Collection #1 is the biggest DLC pack ever for Call of Duty,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “We’re serious about delivering the best value to our fans and just as we promised last year, it’s not just maps anymore. With six pieces of playable content, that’s more content and bigger variety than we’ve ever been able to include before in a Call of Duty DLC for the same price.”

    The DLC includes 2 Spec Ops Missions and 4 multiplayer maps:

    Black Ice: This Special Ops mission plunges combatants deep into a frozen diamond mine via snowmobile in order to infiltrate a secret weapons plant and initiate the self-destruct sequence to take the facility offline for good.

    Negotiator: India is the backdrop for a Special Ops hostage extraction, where gamers must execute flawless breach-and-clears and negotiate a maze of surface streets to ensure the safety of rescued civilians.

    Liberation: Players take up positions in a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC, a sprawling deathscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills.

    Piazza: An idyllic seaside village, an Italian getaway gone rogue, where blind corners and a complex warren of branching pathways pose danger at every turn.

    Overwatch: A compact, sky-high battle arena set in a construction site atop a New York City office tower.

    Black Box: Players seek tactical advantage in multi-level hillside homes overlooking a downed Air Force One, as a luxe SoCal neighborhood turns into a warzone.

    If you love Call Of Duty, Then you are sure to love this giant overload of new content.

  • Modern Warfare 3 DLC Gets PS3 Release Date

    A very astute viewer of Roll Call on Elite TV noticed that during episode 11, near the end of the video announcing the DLC expansion pack Overwatch for the Xbox 360, there was text at the bottom of the screen that stated that it would be available to PS3 Elite premium members “on or around 4/12.”

    If you are wondering why it says “on or around?” It is because Sony is in charge of the PSN updates and they seem to update it any time they feel like it. And as a general rule, if there is something that everyone wants, expect the update to be near 10pm.

    Modern Warfare 3 was released on November 8, 2011 and was one of the most successful media launches in history. Within 24 hours of going on sale, the game sold 6.5 million copies in the US and UK alone and grossed $400 million.

  • Call Of Duty Elite Subscribers Get New Map Pack Today On Xbox 360

    The Call of Duty Elite service has already made itself worthwhile with players on the Xbox 360 getting access to three new maps today.

    Subscribers will get two new Spec Ops maps – Black Ice and Negotiator – that will extend the co-op action you and your friends can get involved in. Black Ice is especially welcome as it adds the snowmobile chase from Modern Warfare 2 into the new game. Negotiator has one player attempting to save their partner from being assassinated.

    Call Of Duty Elite Map Pack

    The lone multiplayer map, Black Box, has players fighting across a mansion that just so happens to be where Air Force One has been downed. The map looks to have plenty of tactical camping points so get those snipers ready.

    Call of Duty Elite Map Pack

    If you’re not a Call of Duty Elite subscriber, you can pick up these maps alongside the first set of map packs on March 20.

    Here’s the admittedly kind of obnoxious trailer for the new map packs, but it does a good job of giving you an overall view of what to expect.

    Are the map packs great additions to the game so far? Or could they be better? Let us know in the comments.

    [h/t: Joystiq]

  • Former Call of Duty Devs Lose Fraud Claim Against Activision

    One of the big stories of 2010 was when the two head executives of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward were fired. The two men, Jason West and Vincent Zampella, sued Activision for not paying them the royalties owed to them. Activision sued back saying that West and Zampella were in secret talks with rival Electronic Arts.

    The case has been sitting in legal purgatory since it was allowed to go ahead back in 2011. There was some movement last week, however, when State Superior Judge Elihu Berle of Los Angeles threw out the fraudulent-inducement claim made against Activision according to Bloomberg.

    This doesn’t mean that Activision has won the case though. There is still one promissory fraud claim still being brought against the publisher. That case will go forward on May 7.

    This is definitely one of the most interesting video game cases in recent history. If West and Zampella win, it will be a blow to Activision’s image and game library. Part of West and Zampella’s demands is that the Modern Warfare name be returned to them.

    If Activision wins, it will be a headache for EA who would have to come clean on whether or not they were courting Infinity Ward talent to come work for them. It would also assuredly have some effect on West and Zampella’s new game for EA.

    We’ll keep you updated on any developments in this interesting case. Call of Duty fans in particular will want to pay attention as it could have an effect on their favorite franchise.

    The GUNNShop has a great breakdown of the lawsuit and the concerns that gamers may have.

    Do you think that West and Zampella have a serious claim? Or is Activision right in that they were conspiring with Electronic Arts? Let us know in the comments.

  • Diablo III, New Call Of Duty Stars Of Activision’s 2012 Lineup

    Activision Blizzard has big plans for 2012 – Diablo III and a new Call of Duty are the headliners.

    In the company’s quarterly report, Activision Blizzard announced strong numbers in both digital and retail alongside new product releases that should have gamers excited for 2012.

    To appease the avid Blizzard fans, the company let drop in the report that Diablo III is targeting a Q2 launch this year. They report that the current beta and auction house testing is going well, so Diablo III should make its Q2 release window.

    blizzardlineup

    As for Blizzard’s other franchises, the new World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is going to be detailed in more depth at a press event on March 19.

    In StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm news, they are adding in new multiplayer units. Blizzard is also going to be taking a “more active” role in the eSports community surrounding the game.

    Finally, Blizzard has multiple unannounced titles set for 2012 with one of them being Blizzard DOTA – a free-to-play online game. There is also the unannounced MMO that we’ve known about for a while.

    As for Call of Duty, as expected there will be a new release this year. The company announced that the series is now the “largest interactive entertainment franchise ever” in the U.S. and Europe.

    With each new Call of Duty release, the number of online players has grown exponentially. In the graph below, it shows the number of online players growing by the millions with each new game. Modern Warfare 3 saw a jump of 20 million online players over Black Ops to reach 40 million active monthly users across all Call of Duty games since the original Modern Warfare.

    callofdutyplayers

    Call of Duty ELITE, the multiplayer service for the game, has reached 7 million users worldwide with 1.5 million of them being paid users. They also announced more DLC than ever before to continue support for Modern Warfare 3. They also announced development of Call of Duty China, a free-to-play microtransaction based game for Asian markets.

    If you were wondering what Bungie was up to after they left the Halo franchise, they are hard at work on their new game for Activision that is set to be revealed at some point this year.

    Lastly, we can’t forget how amazing Spyro Skylanders has done for the company. The video game where players scan in actual toys to unlock new characters was Activision’s largest new IP launch ever. They sold over 20 million toys and it became the number one children’s title in 2011.

    The company took the opportunity to announce Skylanders Giants, new toys that are much larger than the original toys from last year. They will be all new characters with unique in-game powers. Thankfully, the toys will still use the same scanning device called the “Portal of Power” from last year. The toys will be sold in starter packs that come with the “Portal of Power,” expansion packs and stand-alone characters.

    Activision Blizzard is looking to have a great year and gamers, no matter the age or type, should find something to enjoy from the publisher in 2012.

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 DLC Content Season Kick-Off 2012

    Modern Warfare 3 was the top-selling game of 2011 which could leave the publisher, Activision, and developer, Infinity Ward, with gleaming smiles and a pay out worth resting on. Or they could put together one of the most ambitious downloadable content plans seen in this current generation of gaming. They’ve decided to go with the latter.

    In 2012, MW3 will see a downloadable content release every month up until September, right on time for the next Call of Duty release. At least if we’re to believe their announcement which states, “The Call of Duty: MW3 content season kicks off this month first on Xbox LIVE delivering a variety of brand new content every month over the next 9 months for Call of Duty ELITE premium members.

    Along with their overall plan they announced the first DLC “drop”, with two maps: Liberation & Piazza. For Call of Duty ELITE premium members, the content will be available January 24th, with no release date announced for anyone else. Also, Xbox 360 owners will receive the DLC before anyone else due to Activision and Microsoft’s exclusivity deal. Which of course will leave many fans on the PS3 and PC extremely happy (Feel free to grumble in the comments below. As a PC gamer, I’m with you)

    For those who are wondering about their “ELITE” program, it’s Call of Duty’s subscription service which allows fans to track lifetime stats across various titles, along with other social functions. Premium members who pay a $50/year fee are privy to a long list of other features, one of those including early access to DLC.

    The MW3 season of content is being spearheaded by three development groups under the Activision flag: Infinity Ward, Raven Software (one of my all time favorite devs for Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy), and Beachhead Studio. If you understand the concept of video game development, you know that bringing in three companies for a project is huge. It’s extremely difficult to get a project off the ground with even one developer, let alone three working in tandem.

    It will be interesting to see if they can keep their promise regarding monthly content across a nine month span of time. One of the staples of video game development is delays, which can plague even the greatest of developers. So promising content on a monthly basis is a big order to fill.

    Here’s the announcement trailer for their “Content Season 2012 Kick-Off”. Enjoy.

  • No Call of Duty Elite for PC?

    No Call of Duty Elite for PC?

    The Call of Duty Elite launch has been less than successful, as pointed out by Josh in a previous article, this much is known. The social network platform designed around the Call of Duty franchise has been plagued with issues ranging from server crashes due to user demand, and there have apparently been unfulfilled promises having to do with the “Founder” accounts.

    Furthermore, the CoD Elite mobile app hasn’t hit yet, and as discussed previously, there are many functionality issues that are severely limiting the service. And then there’s the “no PC support” issue, with Elite only being available to console players. All in all, it sounds like a back to the drawing board situation, but because Activision has already committed itself to the Elite platform, they are trying to fix it on the fly, and that’s going about as well as you’d expect.

    According to a report from Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the “Elite is temporarily unavailable for the PC” may turn into a “permanently unavailable” scenario, because, apparently, the PC system is just too insecure. The post pointed to a tweet from Call of Duty Elite Twitter page to substantiate their post, and the tweet in question says:

    @thejuggz We are working towards a universal Elite experience but we cannot guarantee if or when a version will be available for the PC. 5 hours ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto

    Granted, with so many more people playing Modern Warfare 3 on the Xbox 360 than the other platforms — nothing like using inferior tech, I guess — does it really matter if Elite is available to the PC users? More to the point, with so many console users, does Activision care enough about the PC environment to actually force the issue and ensure PC users get a working version? Considering the fact the current service is struggling so much, it’s doubtful.

    As for the insecurity of the PC environment, as pointed out by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, isn’t this something that should’ve been discussed during the early development days? Or do they want us to believe they only discovered it at this late date? Personally, I don’t think the lack of security has anything to do with the lack of Elite service for PC players. It’s clear that Xbox 360 players are the target audience, and the rest of gaming community, while getting some semblance of service, you get the distinct feeling that once Elite works as advertised for the Xbox crowd, the resources being thrown at it will shrink.

    In other news, I believe I’ve found a great definition for irony over at the CoD Elite website, especially in light of negative news about the PC platform. Even with the uncertainty surrounding the service, that hasn’t stopped their graphic designers from using an image of laptop, otherwise known as a member of the PC family, on their site.

    Elite PC

    Wishful thinking, perhaps.

  • Call of Duty Elite Down For Many Users, Problems Seem To Be Varied

    Call of Duty Elite, the social gaming network launched around Modern Warfare 3, hasn’t gotten off to the best start. The service, inundated by membership requests, has been unable to get itself fully operational since MW3 launched last Tuesday.

    Originally plagued by registration and login issues, the problems have spread to actual functionality of the service. The huge demand by players to track stats, make matches, and organize clans has crashed servers. The service is currently still given “intermittent” status on the official Elite status site, which acknowledged the problems late last week. After blaming high traffic on the failures, they announced that they would throttle access while they worked on the problems –

    We are also going to temporarily limit access to Elite services on both the console applications and website while we build additional capacity and scale. We’ll look to increase access to greater numbers of users as soon as possible

    In order to assuage frustrated gamers, Elite offered a free month of premium service to existing premium users and extended the Founder eligibility period (where new MW3 players can sign up) until the end of November.

    Here’s the latest from the Elite status page:

    As we continue to keep everyone updated on the steps we’re taking here to get more of you into Call of Duty Elite, we are aware that some users have been denied entry into the service once they have input their age. We recognize that in regions around the world player age requirements vary. We are happy to say that we have identified some solutions to this issue. Our team is working on the technical changes required, and we expect to announce the details soon on this change. Meanwhile, if you purchased MW3 and were not able to register for Call of Duty ELITE, we wanted to make you aware of this pending change, and we thank you for your patience.

    We remain committed to taking all of the necessary steps to increase our capacity for all our users. The Call of Duty Elite team will keep you updated at callofduty.com/elitestatus. Continue to check back here for overall Elite status or for a complete list of FAQs, check out our customer service site. We will also give you updates regularly through the official Twitter account, @CallofDutyElite.

    We’re working around the clock 24/7 to resolve things, so thanks again for your patience.

    That Twitter account looks like it’s been hit with a load of questions, and it looks like it’s doing its best to answer them. From the wide variety of complaints, we can see that the Elite outage is affecting multiple parts of the service.

    Twitter user xMimisReal looks to be having the same problem that this writer is having:

    @CallOfDutyElite Dear CoD Elite.
    Im trying for days now to enter my Elite Account,but i always get the Throtled error.
    Regards, Mimis. 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Paddy1322 looks to be having the age verification issue that they mentioned in the above statement:

    @CallOfDutyElite my xbox says this account is not egible but i am 18 in the uk but my msn says im 17 is this going to be fixed cheers 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Some seem to still be having problems even logging in:

    @CallOfDutyElite Six days and still “Due to heavy traffic, we cannot process your login request.” Along with no founder entitlements. ??? 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Clan making features are currently down as well right now, according to Elite –

    @CallOfDutyElite it let me create a clan but wont let me invite anyone…says i have no friends. Any chance this will be working by tonight? 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Call of Duty Elite’s response to all of these queries basically take this form:

    @EveryoneHatesP This feature is down at present, keep an eye on ELITE status for updates http://t.co/oVwcUALw 4 hours ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto

    According to feedback we received on a previous WebProNews article on the topic, the problems are prevalent and varied. And many users are beginning to lose patience. Will Elite have to offer more than what they’ve already offered in order to assuage frustrated players? Let us know what you think.

  • Call of Duty Elite Not Working? Hey, Here’s a Free Month of Premium

    UPDATE: Elite service still seems to be intermittent for many users, who are reporting a wide variety of problems. They are taking to Elite’s Twitter account to post their issues.

    ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Modern Warfare 3 has been out for a few days now, and it looks like, for the most part – so far so good. It’s received nearly unanimous acclaim from critics and has broken all kinds of sales records by taking in $400 million on launch day. So apart from Battlefield players spamming review sites with negative reviews, it looks like Modern Warfare 3 is going to be one in a long line of commercial successes for the Call of Duty franchise.

    The only problem is with the Modern Warfare 3 companion service, Call of Duty Elite. The service, which is basically a social network for COD gamers, allows players to track stats, share recorded match videos, and find players with their interests and skill level for matchmaking.

    But if you’ve tried to access the service over the past few days, you know that it’s not really working. And the users that are able to register their accounts are finding that there are some serious flaws with the stat tracking and other services.

    Personally, I’ve been unable to connect at all. The one time that I was able to register my account and link my gamertag, I was instructed to log back in and Elite said that my username did not exist. Since that time, I’ve been unable to sign in at all.

    Apparently I’m not alone in having issues, and the Elite team posted an explanation to the Elite status page:

    At launch, our registration and login systems were crushed by gamers trying to enter the Elite site at the same time. We have now fixed the registration and login systems, but we have found that the greater than expected demand is crashing servers. We’re immediately deploying multiple additional servers to beef up the system. We are also going to temporarily limit access to Elite services on both the console applications and website while we build additional capacity and scale. We’ll look to increase access to greater numbers of users as soon as possible.

    They also promise premium subscribers an additional month of the service free of charge, and they will extend the “founder eligibility” where new members can sign up for premium by one month.

    As of right now, the service indicator reports intermittent service.

    Have you been having problems with Call of Duty Elite? Let us know in the comments.

    Here’s the full statement:

    Since Tuesday’s launch, Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer has been working great. In fact, the amount of players online is even higher than what it was this time last year for Black Ops. Have fun — we hope you continue to enjoy MW3 to the fullest.

    However, on Call of Duty Elite, we are having trouble scaling the service to meet demand. Many of you are trying to get in and unfortunately, you can’t right now. You’re frustrated, we know it, and we know we need to fix it. Our teams have been working non-stop to identify issues and resolve them as quickly as possible. Again, these issues have no impact on the performance of the game.

    We want to share with you what we know at this time and what we are doing:

    At launch, our registration and login systems were crushed by gamers trying to enter the Elite site at the same time. We have now fixed the registration and login systems, but we have found that the greater than expected demand is crashing servers. We’re immediately deploying multiple additional servers to beef up the system. We are also going to temporarily limit access to Elite services on both the console applications and website while we build additional capacity and scale. We’ll look to increase access to greater numbers of users as soon as possible.

    As more users log into the Elite system, you may find that the wait to get into Elite is longer than you expect. We know how frustrating that is and we appreciate your patience. Many of you are now able to see your player card and stats, but if you don’t see all your recent matches or career summary, don’t worry — your gameplay data for your entire careers in both Black Ops and MW3 is safely stored, and it will all be available to you once these issues are resolved.

    And for our premium members who are Founders, know that granting your status and delivering your in-game benefits in MW3 is a priority. Also, to ensure that every premium member receives their full money’s worth, we are immediately and automatically extending your membership to Call of Duty Elite by 30 days at no additional cost. If you’re still considering becoming a premium member, we’re going to extend Founder eligibility until the end of the month, and you will also receive the additional 30 days of access.

  • The Day Belongs To Modern Warfare 3

    The Day Belongs To Modern Warfare 3

    When Activision launched the sequel to the Infinity Ward gem, Modern Warfare, the second installment broke all kinds of video game-related sales records. Can we expect a repeat now that Modern Warfare 3 is available? If I were a magic eight ball, signs would point to yes. Not that I have special insight to the purchasing habits of gamers, but hey, some trends are pretty obvious to see.

    In fact, Modern Warfare 2 sold so well, it changed the landscape of how video games are perceived, snarky dating guides by damned. No longer are video games restricted to the basement dwellers who prefer to live their lives vicariously through animated pixels and polygons. The financial success of MW2 made it clear video games had finally graduated to a legitimate form of entertainment. Considering the records the game broke, the evolution was unavoidable.

    With that in mind, can we expect the same from Modern Warfare 3, which hit the stores Tuesday morning at midnight, and needless to say, the Internet is reacting in a giddy manner. Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook are just some of the places the Modern Warfare 3 release is being celebrated.

    And then the was the push from Activision themselves, which provided us with the nifty “Vet and n00b” commercial:


    It should be noted there’s something of backlash aimed at Modern Warfare 3, but that’s just par for the course with the gaming community. It’s the exact same mentality that drives the “PS3 versus the Xbox 360 versus PC gaming” flamewars that tend to dominate these kinds of discussions. Here’s what should be the final word on these useless back and forths — like what you like folks — although, I’m afraid it will fall on deaf ears:

    Play what you like

    As for the reaction to the MW3 launch, Twitter naturally weighed in as the #MW3 hashtag is a current trend, and much like other trends, people are latching onto this one, too:

    I don’t care what anyone says I wanna freaking play MW3 4 minutes ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    I’m hot I’m watchin netflix on xbox and I see half my friends playing #mw3 1 hour ago via Mobile Web · powered by @socialditto

    I JUST WANNA STAY HOME AND PLAY MW3. 5 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Ladies: would u rather know ur bf is at home playing MW3 or out with his boys partying possibly with other girls? 6 minutes ago via TweetCaster for Android · powered by @socialditto

    Who’s letting me come over and play mw3 later? I’ll wear very little clothing if that helps.pleeeeaaasse! #prostitutingyourselfforvideogames 9 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    Any boy who isn’t masturbating over MW3? 12 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® · powered by @socialditto

    And so on and so on.

    For what it’s worth, the majority of the reviews for MW3 have been quite glowing, but this is one game that’s probably “bad review” proof, that is, it doesn’t matter if Yahtzee Croshaw happens to rip it to shreds — something that hasn’t happened yet — people are still going to buy it like hotcakes.

    Oddly enough, however, while the critics seem to be enjoying MW3, the anti-Modern Warfare folks are busy trolling over at Metacritic:

    Metacritic MW3

    Notice the official reviews are good, but the user reviews are not. This is a direct result of the anti-Modern Warfare crowd, because, I guess, if you don’t like a game, it’s not allowed to get good reviews?

    Whatever the case, the good is outweighing the negative, just as long as you aren’t this dude’s girlfriend:

    Facebook Update

    While there have been some oddities concerning the launch — a truck in France getting jacked, resulting in 6000 copies of MW3 being stolen, or the overloading issues with Modern Warfare Elite — the day still belongs to Modern Warfare 3, that is, until Skyrim comes out on Friday.