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Tag: Call of Duty

  • 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.

  • Gamers Pave The Way For Cheap Cancer Research

    Gamers Pave The Way For Cheap Cancer Research

    Gamers are somewhat reviled by the media and politicians as being violent psychopaths who use violent first-person shooters and other “murder simulators” to play out acts that may lead to real life consequences. Those extreme graphics causing all the violence, however, may end up saving lives.

    A research lab at Wake Forest University is using graphic processing units to simulate the inner workings of human cells according to ScienceBlog. Samuel Cho, biophysicist and computer scientist says that the use of the GPUs is furthering their research by leaps and bounds.

    “If it wasn’t for gamers who kept buying these GPUs, the prices wouldn’t have dropped, and we couldn’t have used them for science,” Cho says.

    The team uses the GPUs to see how cells live, divide and die. This will help them create targets for tumor-killing drugs.

    Cho recently created a simulation that shows the folding of a critical RNA molecule that’s part of the human telomerase enzyme. It gives scientists a better look at how these cells operate, including the revelation of hidden states in the folding and unfolding process.

    That big word up there, the telomerase enzyme, it’s only found in cancerous cells. It essentially keeps cancer cells from dying.

    “The cell keeps reproducing over and over, and that’s the very definition of cancer,” Cho says. “By knowing how telomerase folds and functions, we provide a new area for researching cancer treatments.”

    With their research, they should be able to create a drug that stops the reproduction of this molecule so the cancer cell dies.

    Now back to the gaming bit, they are using GPUs to research the bacterial ribosome – a molecular system 200 times larger than the telomerase molecule. They are using the GPUs to simulate the cell’s growth at a much faster rate.

    Cho estimates that this research would have taken them over 40 years to complete with traditional cell imaging. With the use of GPUs, it will only take them a few months.

    Next time you feel the need to chastise a gamer for their extreme habits or possibly ruining their marriage, just remember that the hardware they keep buying is helping to cure cancer.

  • Modern Warfare 3 Free To Play This Weekend, On Sale

    Steam will occasionally offer up free weekends on PC games to allow interested gamers a chance to try out the game before buying it. This weekend’s game is a big one.

    Steam announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be free-to-play this weekend. This will allow gamers to play the entire multiplayer portion of the game on the PC for free until Sunday at 4 p.m. EST.

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

    To celebrate the free weekend, Modern Warfare 3 is also on sale for $40. It’s rare for Call of Duty games to go on sale so jump on this deal while you still can.

    The PC version of the game uses Steamworks for its matchmaking so the multiplayer experience should be relatively lag free and easy to set up.

    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the final chapter in Infinity Ward’s massively popular Modern Warfare franchise. The multiplayer introduced new features that is sure to convert a few people from playing Modern Warfare 2 or Black Ops up to the new one.

    Considering that Modern Warfare 3 on the PC should be getting some new content soon, now would be a good time to hop on board the Call of Duty bandwagon.

  • 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.

  • MegaUpload Founder King Of Modern Warfare 3

    MegaUpload Founder King Of Modern Warfare 3

    Kim DotCom, founder of MegaUpload, was a lot of things to a lot of people. The government treats him like a crime syndicate kingpin. The Internet treats him like a martyr. There is a softer side to this kingpin martyr though. He is the number one player in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

    Before he was arrested, Kim DotCom was on a quest to become number one in Modern Warfare 3. A feat that he achieved after many hours of playing. Kim, known as MEGARACER on Xbox Live, reached number one on the leaderboards for kills and in free-for-all.

    He currently has over 150,000 kills, better than 15 million other players. He wrote in the description of the YouTube video celebrating the victory: “Don’t hate me because I beat you. Respect me because I teach you.”

    It’s a rare insight into the life of a man that is so respected and equally reviled by so many people across the world. Whether or not you love him or hate him, you got to give the man his due. He’s an impressive gamer.

    It’s unfortunate that he won’t be able to continue his rampage in Modern Warfare 3. DotCom was denied bail and will continue to stay in custody.

  • NPD: Xbox 360 On Top In December

    The Xbox 360 did good this year. How good? About $6.7 billion worth of good.

    NPD data was released today that cemented Microsoft’s position as the leader of 2011 in video game sales. That $6.7 billion worth of sales equated to Microsoft’s sales accounting for 40 percent of all video game sales in 2011.

    The entire industry made between $16.3 and $16.6 billion in 2011. This includes both retail and digital game and hardware sales. The sales are down 2 percent when compared to 2010.

    New physical content at retail still accounts for the majority of video game sales. Retail generated about $9.3 billion, an 8 percent decrease from last year.

    HD console software sales were up 9 percent in 2011. Used games, full-game digital downloads, downloadable content and mobile gaming app sales were up as well.

    “Overall industry results are not entirely surprising given that we are on the back end of the current console lifecycle, combined with the continued digital evolution of gaming. Core gamers continue to be engaged and spend on established franchises across both the digital and physical format using multiple devices for different gaming occasions,” Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group, said.

    This ties into December seeing only 6.3 million console sales, down from 8.4 million a year ago. This is the lowest level since 2005 which was at the end of the previous console cycle. These are usually the signs of a new console cycle starting up soon.

    December was the main factor that brought the year’s sales down. December is typically a strong month for software and console sales, but the NPD notes that sales were down across most software and hardware that month. In fact, the only two platforms to see an increase in sales in December were the DS and 3DS.

    The top 10 best-selling games in December were:

    1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
    2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
    3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)
    4. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
    5. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
    6. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
    7. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)
    8. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
    9. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
    10. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)

    The top 10 best-selling games of 2011 were:

    1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
    2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
    3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)
    4. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
    5. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
    6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC)
    7. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)
    8. Gears of War 3 (360)
    9. Just Dance 2 (Wii)
    10. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)

    The December and annual sales, even though they are down, represent the fact that gaming is a huge industry that continues to strive. With the increase in mobile gaming and the proliferation of digital sales, it can only get better.

    Also, with new hardware like the PlayStation Vita and Wii U launching this year, there should be some good news and sales for video games 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.

  • 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:

    @xMimisReal
    Jim K    @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:

    @paddy1322
    patrick dunning    @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:

    @Num1YankeeFan
    Jason Ferguson    @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 –

    @EveryoneHatesP
    P    @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:

    @CallOfDutyElite
    Call of Duty Elite    @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.

  • Call of Duty Female Gamer Records Her Experiences With Sexism

    Everyone knows that when conversing with people online, the veil of anonymity can make people say all sorts of things they wouldn’t utter in real life. Blogs, news sites, and other online mediums have been dealing with this problem for years within the comment sections and forums on a website. This extends to the realm of video games, when playing them online through Xbox Live, Playstation Network, or on the PC. If you’re a woman, many times you’re met with a whole separate experience which can include some extremely sexist behavior.

    Jenny Haniver, has started a website titled: Not in the Kitchen Anymore. The premise is simple, she records and documents her experiences playing first person shooters, specifically Call of Duty, and posts these experiences on the website. What you find on her website is pretty shocking, with a lot of it being so extreme it borders on the hilarious.

    Notinthekitchen.com

    I found this site a few days ago, and was completely taken by it. Once you start listening to some of these recordings, you can’t stop. You’ll laugh, be amazed, and scared there are people like this who walk among us.

    I actually got to speak with Haniver about her website, to gain a bit more insight concerning the project.

    My Recorded Discussion With Jenny Haniver (NSFW: Language)

    After talking with Jenny, it’s obvious she’s not looking for pity or to say that everyone acts in the same way as the people in her recordings. She simply wants to shed light on the problem, and show just how bad it can get for ladies on Xbox Live or any other online gaming platform.

    Here’s what Jenny had to say about the site, “And that’s essentially the focus of my blog- the dated, hostile, and sometimes downright weird reactions men, and occasionally even other women, have to interacting with females in an anonymous setting that is considered to be male dominated (online video games, specifically first person shooters). Obviously sexism isn’t the only problem prevalent in online gaming, it’s just the one I’ve chosen to focus on.

    This behavior is something that most female gamers will have to face at some point if they choose to game online. The aim of my project is education; some people genuinely have no idea this is going on. By exposing this type of behavior, I’m hoping to raise awareness- and possibly push people to remember that it’s a real live person on the other side of that microphone.”

    To give you an idea of how a recording will go, here’s a transcript from one of the more tame samples:

    RMP = random male player

    RMP1: Huh?

    RMP2: Can’t end it like that.

    RMP1: And we got beat by a girl.

    [laughter]

    RMP3: Wisconsin, what’s up!

    Me: You say that like that’s a bad thing.

    RMP2: Nah it’s cool. As long- as long as you’re skinny.

    [laughter]

    RMP1: Her avatar is pretty hot.

    RMP2: So are you skinny?

    RMP3: Who is?

    The website spun out of an art project she did for a college course, highlighting many of the quotes she recorded for the project.

    Not in the Kitchen Anymore Project

    She also set up an audio booth, represented by a blue controller and a pink controller. They doubled as MP3 players, with the blue controller playing sound bites from a male vantage point, with the pink playing what women hear while playing.

    Not in the Kitchen Anymore Project

    The website is a humorous, albeit sad look at what many people resort to when provided an anonymous shield. The only way you can combat this kind of nonsense is to call it out, and let other people know what’s happening. Haniver is just doing that in a creative, and funny way.

  • Modern Warfare 3 Sparks Violent Incidents On Launch Day

    Yesterday was the big launch day of the much-anticipated installment of the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare 3. And while many happy gamers were laying claymores, capturing positions, and launching predator strikes, some guys were reacting rather poorly to their inability to get their hands on a copy.

    First up, in beautiful Colorado, a 31-year old man was charged with disorderly conduct after he made quite the scene at a local Best Buy.

    According to Colorado’s 9News, Lomorin Sar became a little angry with Best Buy employees when his copy of Modern Warfare 3, that he reportedly pre-ordered, wasn’t there. The store had sold out, and Sar didn’t take the news very well. Witnesses say that he asked the employees when they were leaving work, saying that he would shoot them in the parking lot.

    If that wasn’t enough, he also threatened to blow up the entire store.

    Officers punnily described the situation as a man wanting to perform a little of his own “modern warfare.”

    For the next incident of MW3 violence, we look to Missouri. The Kansas City Star says that a man has been arrested after he attempted to take a man’s copy of the game at gunpoint.

    David Morales reportedly visited a local GameStop in order to purchase the new shooter. When he saw that he would be waiting in a pretty long line, he thought that he should just wait for someone to walk out the door and take it from them.

    When he spotted his victim Adam Freeman, Morales followed him home to his apartment, where he used his Ford Explorer to block Mr. Freeman in. Morales pulled a gun and demanded that Freeman hand over his prized purchase.

    “F*ck You,” said Freeman and after a scuffle, Morales fled the scene empty handed.

    Then, in an act of pure genius, Morales went back to the same GameStop. Police later found him there, standing in line to buy the game.

    Listen guys, I’ve played the game already. It’s good. It’s a whole lotta fun. But it’s not worth the court fees – or the public embarrassment.

    At least they aren’t alone in their rage. Hitler was quite incensed when he found out that one of his soldiers had failed to retrieve him a copy of the game –

  • Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer Trailer Hits The Interwebs

    Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer Trailer Hits The Interwebs

    In what seems to be an early leak, the multiplayer trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has hit YouTube.

    The over 3-min video gives us a quick look at some of the new features to the upcoming title, cinematic slow-mo and dramatic explosions. Just what you would expect from a reveal trailer.

    Some of the new things coming in MW3 multiplayer – collectible dog tags, new perks like Quickdraw, Stalker, and Assassin, and it looks like the good ol’ heartbeat sensor has made a grand return.

    Check it out below –

    The official Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer World Premiere is a giant event that kicks off today at 2 pm ET. The event, taking place in Los Angeles over the next two days, will give attendees the change to be the first to play MW3, host a $1 million multiplayer tournament and let people browse MW3’s weaponry in real life. Oh, and Kanye West is set to perform at the close of the event.

    As a companion of Modern Warfare 3, an all new social gaming experience called “Call of Duty Elite” has been launched in Beta test. The service will be available to all players an will provide stat tracking, group and clan organization, and special analysis modes like map performance and highlights.

    Check out the trailer for Elite below –

    The original Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer caused some controversy in the U.K. Some scenes from the game hit a little too close to home as they reminded people of the 7/7 attacks that took place in 2005.

  • Call of Duty Elite Hits Two Million Signups in Two Weeks

    The giant upcoming social network for gamers called Call of Duty: Elite will officially kick off the same time as the upcoming COD installment Modern Warfare 3, November 8th. But the service wants feedback from players to help polish off the final product, so they issued an invite for everyone to sign up to be a beta tester on the Elite website.

    About two weeks in, more than 2 million have already signed up for the beta. This is a promising number for Elite developers Beachhead Studio and Activision, to say the least.

    This figure was announced on Activision’s Dan Amrich’s blog One of Swords. He tells us that the official COD: Elite beta will launch July 14th and users who have signed up should check their inboxes for an official invite.

    And they want more beta testers. According to Amrich, the 2 million current signups only represent about 6% of the total Call of Duty world.

    The official start of the beta is a month away, so there’s still plenty of time for you to sign up. When the studio head at Beachhead said this would be a live beta, he was not kidding — your participation really can make a difference in how Elite evolves. And don’t be discouraged by the big number, thinking you shouldn’t bother because they already have enough people — two million volunteers among 30 million Call of Duty players is a small amount. More would be even better

    It looks like COD: Elite hasn’t been hurt initially by all the talk of it being a “paid service.” A FAQ page was quickly put out on the website to clarify the difference between Elite free and Elite Premium. First and foremost (and this bears repeating) multiplayer will be free.

    And most features of Call of Duty Elite will be available through a free membership. Here’s a little chart that details what will be included in the service for free –

    It’s still unknown exactly what the premium membership will look like, and we still don’t have a price yet. Here’s their explanation on why we don’t know any of this yet –

    The premium membership of Call of Duty Elite (which is completely optional) will set a new gold standard for what the multiplayer and community experience for a console game can be. Why are we not revealing all of the features that are part of the premium service today? Simple. Because the service was designed to be deeply integrated with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and will not be demonstrable until we are closer to the launch of the game. We know seeing is believing, and over the next few months we will be revealing and demonstrating more of the premium features and by the end of the summer, we will reveal the entire service in full.

    If your little heart can’t wait to obsessively monitor your K/D ratio and accuracy with the scoped Python, Amrich can provide you with a little fix. He’s put up an updated post on everything he knows about COD: Elite.

  • Modern Warfare 3 Faces British Backlash

    Modern Warfare 3 Faces British Backlash

    It’s shaping up to be a great fall season for gamers, if, for nothing else, than to watch Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 fight it out for top first person shooter honors. It’s EA (BF3) versus Activision (MW3) for all of 2011’s FPS marbles. While Battlefield 3 won the initial battle, simply by coming out swinging first, Modern Warfare 3 has won the latest round with the release of first non-teaser trailer, which leads this article.

    They hype level for both games is extremely high, with EA seeing a 700 percent increase of pre-orders; and, well, Modern Warfare is Modern Warfare. The buzz is always high around this particular title. However, the war for 2011 FPS supremacy may be over before it’s begun, thanks to some backlash in England concerning Modern Warfare 3’s content.

    According to a report in the Daily Mail (via The Escapist), some scenes from the upcoming game remind some of the 7/7 attacks that took place in London on July of 2005. In the Modern Warfare 3 reveal, certain scenes feature the British Parliament and the London Underground getting attacked.

    The Mail also has screenshots of the scenes in question:

    Modern Warfare 3

    Modern Warfare 3


    The backlash is growing the point where some English citizens are calling for Modern Warfare 3 to be banned in England, while other spokespeople responded as well:

    Vivienne Pattison, spokesman for campaign group Mediawatch UK, said: “I have concerns as these games are hyper-real and take place in a landscape we are familiar with. In light of the fact we have just had the 7/7 inquests, it is in incredibly poor taste.”

    Pattison also supported a ban on the release of Saw IV, to provide some additional perspective.

    Of course, the Modern Warfare franchise is no stranger to controversy. When MW 2 was released, a great deal was made about the airport execution scene, but ultimately, Modern Warfare 2 broke records when it was released, and England was right in the middle of those record-breaking sales.

    With that in mind, it would be awfully surprising if Modern Warfare 3 was banned in England. In fact, this kind of controversy will only help market the game, because, as we’ve learned time and time again, this kind of outcry only increases interest in the item being discussed. With that in mind, don’t be surprised if Modern Warfare 3 breaks the records set by MW 2, especially in the British Isles.