Whether it’s a throwing knife, a headshot, or a plasma sword, insta-kill weapons are powerful, yet limited, weapons. They normally take a bit of skill to wield properly, and will more than likely get a new player killed as he or she unskillfully tries to close into melee range. But in the hands of a master they can rule a game.
What would happen if modern multiplayer games were somehow combined and one character from each game was given its games’ signature one-shot weapon? The guys at Corridor Digital have answered that question.
Take a look at their video pitting characters from Halo, Mass Effect, Goldeneye, Modern Warfare, and other franchises as they take their respective insta-gib’s into a humorous battle royale. Who will win? I won’t spoil it, but there is no disputing the winner once you see him in action:
Corridor Digital are the same people who brought you the FUS RO DAH video we showed you a month ago. According to their Facebook page, they are “dudes who love shooting and vfx.” Also, they live in Los Angeles, so with their video effects skills and humorous sensibilities, I don’t think it will be long before they are hired by a production company.
While the residual effects of the Modern Warfare 3 blackout seem to be minimal–that is, it did not cause Activision to relent and patch all the issues that were brought to light–that hasn’t stopped the HC4M ELITE crew to abandon their position of taking Activision and Infinity Ward to task for their refusal to fix the myriad of problems that lead to the idea of the blackout.
Motivated by the standard response to their blackout request of, “Why would Activision care? They already have your money.” The group has changed strategies. Instead of calling for another multiplayer blackout, the HC4M ELITE group is asking those who are not satisfied with the support MW3 receives to blackout any DLC releases by not buying them.
This is a call of action to the Call of Duty Community to not purchase and download the DLC for Modern Warfare 3 . Join us and your fellow Call of Duty players and fans as we take a stand against Activision and Infinity Ward for their lack of support towards the community’s needs and concerns.
We have been ignored repeatedly when asking for quality post release fixes to be implemented pertaining to:
Lag Compensation
Matchmaking
The broken Spawn System
There are currently 135 total signatures, which seems to indicate some players aren’t as bothered by Activision’s lack of support. Apparently, as long as they can log on and deathmatch themselves to a blissful Nirvana, nothing else matters, not even a shoddy matchmaking system that’s long been criticized, even before the blackout gained popularity.
Is this something you’d consider participating in or can MW3 do no wrong in your eyes? Let us know what you think.
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.
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.
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.
Earlier this month, we discussed the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 blackout that’s scheduled for April 20th. The goal of the call to action is to get the game’s publishers (Activision and Infinity Ward) to address various user complaints about gameplay and other desired adjustments.
Judging by the list of complaints, which can be seen here, it seems like a comprehensive patch would be sufficient. Unfortunately for those who support the MW3 blackout, the publishers are concentrating moreondownloadablecontent than they are fixing the game.
As the lead video indicates, the HC4M Elite group has experienced a few hurdles with the publishers, especially in relation to getting the word out. Apparently, any mention of the MW3 blackout on Activision’s forums are being removed, and a quick glance at the official Modern Warfare 3 forum reveals this to be so, at least in regards to the current and popular topics listed.
The video also features a quote from Infinity Ward employee who discusses the lag issues, essentially blaming it on the gamers by saying players are throttling their bandwidth and inducing latency on their connections, directly contributing to the lag conditions the MW3 Blackout group discusses. The Infinity Ward employee quote goes on to say the spawn issues have been assigned a lower degree of priority.
Instead of blaming players who made the Modern Warfare title the billion dollar operation it has become, the group would like the developers to actually address the issues at hand.
For those who might question whether or not a movement like this would be successful, it remains to be seen. While the initial video has over 120,000 views, the group’s Twitter page (@MW3Blackout) has only picked up an additional 400 or so followers since the initial article ran. At the time of the first video, the account had close to 500 followers. A week later and the total now stands at 856. It remains to be seen if the blackout movement will be effective.
If the YouTube comments are anything to go by, the desired effect may not be attained:
hate to bust your bubble, but one day of missing gameplay won’t make a bit of difference. Too many people won’t know, won’t care, and will just play anyways on that day.
Black it out for a week, or a month, or better yet, just get everyone to stop playing entirely and you’ll get your point across.
Sadly, there’s a lot of truth to that last comment. What say you? Does the Modern Warfare 3 blackout sound like something you’d support or are you happy with the game as it is? Let us know what you think.
Apparently, releasing some paid DLC is not the way to go about pacifying a fanbase that wants a little more support for their buck. At least, that’s the position a group of Modern Warfare 3 “fans” are taking for what they feel is a lack of in-game support from both Activision and Infinity Ward. In order to voice their displeasure, the fans in question are planning a MW3 blackout on April 20, 2012.
As you can see from the lead video, the list of issues with the game is a long one, and while some may consider it nitpicking, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a little balance and support in your video games. While the video features the group’s manifesto, they’ve also transcribed it so there’s no mistaking their position.
The list is a lot longer than one might expect, especially when you consider it’s focusing on Activision’s flagship title, one you’d think the company would be eager to support. If the upcoming list is any indication, apparently, the publishers are resting on the laurels of the game’s immense popularity. The desired fixes:
Lag Compensation
Matchmaking options which include the ability to enable disable local search and base search off the party leader when playing with friends
The broken Spawn System
Full featured Theater mode
Individual volume controls in the options menu
Tac insert removed from Kill confirmed
More Hardcore game modes
Better Elite playlist options
Objective stats on in-game scoreboard
Akimbo machine pistol nerf
Removal of any assault kill streaks from the support package
Removal of death streaks and Fix Local Area Network settings for Competitive events.
To facilitate the blackout, the group has started a Twitter page (@MW3BlackOut), and in a short time–the first tweet was made four hours ago– *it has already received over 500 followers. If EA was smart, they would capitalize on this dissatisfaction with a heavy Battlefield 3 push, especially on the days leading up to the MW3 blackout.
One wonders if such an action will resonate with both Activision and Infinity Ward or if pleas will fall on deaf ears.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Modern Warfare 3’s “content season” is now officially upon us, as the first DLC is now available. The only catch is that it is only available to Call of Duty Elite PREMIUM members.
Call of Duty Elite, of course, is the gaming network built around Modern Warfare 3’s release. It allows players to access detailed statistics, as well as various social options involving clans, matchmaking, and video sharing. Call of Duty Elite Premium is the $49.99 package that provides players with bonus features – early access to DLC obviously being one of them.
Today’s DLC kickoff contains two news maps, Piazza and Liberation. Here’s a description of the maps from Google+Reader”>Major Nelson:
Elite Drop 1: Piazza Map
This seaside Italian getaway is anything but idyllic, as tight corners and branching pathways pose great risk at every turn. Close-range combat dominates, and the team that best utilizes flanking routes will most often come out on top. Attacks from behind, above and below are an ever-constant threat. Keep up your awareness and don’t get taken by surprise.
Elite Drop 2: Liberation Map
A militarized Central Park stretches across a vast landscape, ripe for long-range sniper and LMG fire. Mounted turrets on either end lend power to anyone brave enough to expose themselves in exchange for deadly firepower. Plan out your movement and always be aware of nearby sightlines to avoid becoming fodder for the enemy.
Call of Duty Elite Premium members won’t need to shell out any extra cash for these two new maps, as they are included as part of the premium subscription.
Check the lead video for a walkthrough of how to access the new DLC and check out the videos below for some gameplay from the new maps, courtesy user Matroix.
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.
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.
Hey Modern Warfare 3 fanatics? Are you already getting sick of getting spawn-semtex killed in Dome and sniped from across the map on Bakaara? Are you sick of all the exploding barrels and cars in Fallen and just plain fed up with having nowhere to hide from Pavelows in Mission?
Well if you’re an elite subscriber, you’re in luck. According to Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling, the first round of DLC will be dropping in just over a month.
The lead image is the one tweeted out by Bowling, our first look at the new MW3 map “Park.”
Kotaku brings up an important question – “It’s not clear if that date is when Elite premium members will be getting the add-on or if their pay-to-get-it-first status will let them access it before that date.”
But either way, it looks like at least one new map is on its way in about a month (or less).
Check out Bowling discuss how Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be different this time around. The “content season” is nearly upon us.
Many are heralding 2011 as one of the greatest years in video games history, though the ornery old-school gamer in me believes 1996 still holds that title. However, it’s hard to argue against the likes of: Battlefield 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Uncharted 3, NBA 2K12, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Modern Warfare 3, and Batman: Arkham City. Even as you’re reading this list, I’m sure many of you are shouting “You left out X (game), which is better than Y“. Or you’ll let me know what I left out in the comments. That’s how bountiful 2011 has been to all of us.
So what were the most played games of 2011?
Since I already spoiled the surprise in the title, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the most played title in 2011 according to a report generated by Raptr.com.
The service allows gamers to track their achievements, and gameplay activity for both PC and consoles. However, due to data capturing restrictions, only data from the PC and Xbox 360 can be used for the report. So the findings are skewed, leaving the hours clocked by Uncharted 3 and Skyward Sword in question.
Here’s a list of the rest of the awards handed out in the report, along with some interesting statistical findings:
– Most Played Shooter: Modern Warfare 3
– Most Played RPG: Skyrim
– Most Played Open World (Non-RPG): Batman: Arkham City
– Most Played Sports Game: FIFA Soccer 12
– Most Played Social Game: The Sims Social
– Most Played New IP: L.A. Noire
– Most Successful Paid-to-F2P Game: DC Universe Online
– An average Skyrim player logged 85 hours before unlocking the “Reader” achievement (read 50 skill books).
– Apparently Batman doesn’t care about saving hostages — less than 1% of players rescued all hostages from The Riddler.
– The average Skyrim player clocked 2.92 hours in one sitting – the highest one month average in Raptr history.
– Most pay-to-play games experience explosive growth after making the switch to free-to-play. This year, the biggest was DC Universe Online with a 1000% increase in user base, which translated to a 2500% increase in playtime per day.
Pretty interesting findings from Raptr, with the DC Universe Online stats being the most eye-opening to me. Considering most games seem to monetize better on a free-to-play system, by making money through cash shops, it’s a wonder why there’s still a subscription model in existence. I’m looking at you Star Wars: The Old Republic (which I’ll end up playing anyway).
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:
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 cheers4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Some seem to still be having problems even logging in:
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.
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.
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 –
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:
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:
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:
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:
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.
We’ve got a nice mixture of videos for you today. A wide array of topics for your viewing pleasure involving Charlie Day, Seinfeld, Modern Warfare 3, some crazy AT-AT walker looking thing, Louis CK hating something and the latest update to Peter Jackson’s Hobbit video diary.
I’ll start us off with an attempt to escape from the law, one that fails miserably thanks to the innovate pursuit skills of the cops giving chase:
I’ll start us off with a video of the Muppets, yes THE Muppets have now apparently joined Google+ and are planning a hangout. Now if only kids these days knew who the Muppets were… anyways, here goes:
In an effort to promote their mobile offerings, Best Buy is launching a deal surrounding the imminent release of the highly-anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Best Buy will be giving away an HTC smartphone to anyone who purchases the game, given that you do the whole contract thing. So if contracts aren’t your thing, this isn’t the deal for you. But if you were planning on signing up for a 2-year plan anyways, and love shooting people in the face with sniper rifles – this is your lucky day.
Participants will have three smartphone options: The EVO 4G for Sprint, the Incredible 2 for Verizon or the Inspire 4G for AT&T. The deal also includes a free case as well as a bonus MW3 package that lets players tack on more experience points at the outset for stuff like weapons upgrades.
In recent years, you probably noticed all the mobile sections popping up inside your local Best Buys. That’s because the company has been trying for years to set itself up as the go-to place for mobile. This holiday season, they are planning a huge campaign through TV, social media, and print ads to hammer home Best Buy Mobile.
“We want to get customers to realize there is a better way, and that better way is Best Buy,” said Allister Jones, head of marketing for Best Buy Mobile.
You can expect more promotions like this MW3/HTC one in the upcoming weeks.
Modern Warfare 3 hits the shelves on November 8th.
Yes, this is one of the posts where the title says it all, because yes, some amazingly intelligent life form spent almost $2000 for an illegal copy of Modern Warfare 3, which was acquired from eBay. There are a number of things to address about the abject stupidity on display for such impatience, but first and foremost, the game comes out in about three days, which is the amount of time it will take for the item to be shipped to the buyer.
This means the person was smart enough to acquire almost two grand worth of disposable money, but they weren’t smart enough to do simple math in regards to shipping dates and the game’s official release date, which is November 8th.
So, not only was the math ignored, the person who made the purchase overpaid for an item that could very well get them kicked off of Xbox Live, especially if they try to play it online.
As a Destructoid comment pointed out, someone should give kudos to the seller for making such a nice sum for a game that will be available on Tuesday morning for around $60. Now, it’s true the buyer could’ve duped the seller by bailing out on the sale, but if it actually went through as a legitimate purchase, the person who paid that much for a game that comes out after the weekend deserves all the scorn in the world.
Something else that occurred to me concerning the purchase of a copy of a game that hasn’t been made publicly available yet, if the PROTECT-IP act goes through, would eBay be liable for facilitating the acquisition of an illegal copy of what’s almost guaranteed to be a huge-selling video game? If illegal streaming sites are punishable for having the content, what about the largest online auction house in the world?
Hopefully, that little allegory shows just how misguided the PROTECT-IP act is, especially when you have non-tech savvy politicians trying to regulate a technology they clearly don’t understand.
Perhaps an “LOL Whut” would be a better reaction here, but according to respondents to a survey done at something called the London Games Conference, Apple has been the most influential company in regards to shaping the video game industry.
I’ll let that sit for a second before I continue.
That’s right, the company that, until it took control of the mobile device market, was distinctly known as not even being remotely close to producing a gaming machine, has shaped and influenced the video game industry more than Atari, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo or any of the number of game developers — entities like John Carmack, Gabe Newell, Infinity Ward (before Activision bought them), Blizzard, and Bethesda. To say the results of the survey have been met with some disdain is something of an understatement, judging by the title of the Reddit thread discussing the same topic.
The news of the survey was reported by The Escapist website, a site that extensively covers the video game industry. Besides Apple’s obvious influence on the video game industry being acknowledged, other results of the survey were just as surprising. In regards to most influential devices, the iPhone won out:
iPhone: 17%
Wii: 7%
Xbox Live: 3%
PlayStation One: 3%
Steam: 2%
Apparently, the death of Steve Jobs has completely warped people in terms of perspective, as the results of the people who influenced gaming shows quite well:
Steve Jobs 26%
Gabe Newell 16%
Shigeru Miyamoto 7%
Tim Berners-Lee 4%
Mark Zuckerberg 3%
Judging by the appearance of Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, evidently, a large portion of the respondents never played a video game until Facebook and the iPhone became ingrained to society as a whole, and therefore, that’s the only platform they are aware of.
Don’t get me wrong, the success of Angry Birds proves how much casual gamers enjoy viewing their iPhone as a legitimate gaming device, but if you can’t tell the difference between that and something like Modern Warfare 3, which won’t available on any Apple products, then I’m not sure what to tell you; although, perhaps someone could clear up my confusion:
All shapes and sizes, apparently, at least in relation to video games — well, according to the folks who responded to the survey in question, anyway. Whatever motivated these responses, it’s pretty clear the death of Steve Jobs is still fresh on everybody’s mind, even those who consider iPhone gaming the same as console or PC gaming.
