- Activision Publisher Weekend - Day 3 - 3 May 2014
The Activision Publisher Weekend continues today with great deals on Activision titles! From now through Monday* pick up titles up to 75% off! Additionally, play the Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer for Free throughout the weekend! Today's Daily Deal features the Call of Duty franchise** at 50% off! *All discounts end Monday, March 17th at 10AM Pacific Time. **Does not include Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Post-Modern – ‘Call Of Duty: Ghosts’ Busted - 24 April 2013
Another year, another Call of Duty. So Jesus told Moses, and so Moses told Gandalf, and so we all now know it. The obvious money’s been on this year’s slice of shooting man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man after man being a new entry in the Modern Warfare series, but UK supermarket Tesco briefly put up a packshot for something called Call of Duty: Ghosts earlier today. It’s gone now, but not before I assembled the following high-res pic out of its weird image zoom thing. (That sounds like it’s a setup for a trick. It isn’t, promise). (more…)
- North Korea Uses Call of Duty and "We Are the World" in Truly Bizarre Propaganda - 5 February 2013
If those North Korean propaganda games weren't odd (and unsettling) enough, the country's state media is incorporating Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and "We Are the World" to show the U.S. under attack. Yeah . Never mind that "We Are the World" was written by Americans (Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson) or that North Korea probably (um, definitely?) didn't get permission to use this bit from Modern Warfare 3 , the entire thing is one complete and very scary mindfuck. Uploaded by North Korean propaganda agency Uriminzokkiri , the video, as LiveLeak points out, is a dream sequence that shows a North Korean rocket—the same kind the country recently launched into space. As an elevator music version of the USA for Africa charity song plays, the rocket circles the globe, an elated Korea is reunited, and at around the 2:15 mark, an American flag is draped over a bombed out New York Cit…
- Computer Security Research Team Finds Vulnerabilities in Modern Warfare 3 - 9 November 2012
The same security company that found a security flaw in Steam earlier this year has found security holes in Modern Warfare 3 and CryEngine 3. As ComputerWorld reports , researchers from security company ReVuln announced their findings at a security conference in Seoul today. They demonstrated two major issues. The first was with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which, according to the presentation, is open to malicious denial of service (DDoS) attacks that can crash the game servers. The other major issue was found in Crytek's CryEngine 3, and demonstrated on the game Nexuiz . The research team was able to access a remote player's computer via the game servers and "caused a graphic of cat riding a rocket to be displayed on the victim's computer." If only all hackers sent cat pictures. Of course, as a security company, it's in ReVuln's interest to point out security flaws, even minute ones…
- CODBloops: Black Ops 2 is DX11 But Shuns XP - 4 September 2012
I do hear mutterings from some of my similarly jaded contemporaries that, actually, Black Ops 2 doesn’t look as hateful as the last COD, Modern Warfare 3. Given I did find CODBLOPS 1′s singleplayer to be comfortably the least obnoxious of the post-COD4 games, I’m inclined to believe them, no matter how sure I am that this is a not a game I’ll ever care about. Good to hear that the PC version appears to be doing the work, though – devs Treyarch have revealed that they’ve update the engine to include DirectX11 support and extra shinies, as well as “more “quality vs performance” options than ever before”. The cost of this is no more Windows XP support, which will be bad news for the approximate 14% of Steam users who doggedly remain with Microsoft’s most deathless OS. Ditching XP support is not at all uncommon for new games these days,…
- Air Force Drone Pilots Say Their Job Is Nothing Like a Video Game - 30 July 2012
It's been slightly bizarre to watch controversy swirl around the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in 21st Century war-making, while at the same time UAVs' presence in video games has only grown. Despite the fact that they might be the most politically charged aspect of present-day combat, they've been in multiple Call of Duty games and in Battlefield 3 . The upcoming Splinter Cell Blacklist will also have unmanned aerial vehicles in it, too. Those opposed to the use of UAVs for taking out targets in hotspots around the world say that it reduces the taking of human life to emotionally distant video game mechanics where button presses take away human lives. But, in an article in The New York Times , drone pilots say that what they do isn't like playing a video game at all. The newspaper article touches on the differences in psychological affect that remote engagement creates in the service…
- Call Of Duty Online Is An Online Call Of Duty Game - 3 July 2012
Amazingly, ‘Call of Duty Online’ didn’t actually exist before now. They’re surely the most inevitable word-sequence in the world, after all. Even so, “free to play micro transaction first person action game” CODO isn’t for us. It’s one of those bally China-only games that exist to cater towards a community that is even more steeped in internetiness than Western gamers are, and more to the point is also steeped in rampant piracy. A multiplayer shooter that only exists online is, then, a logical step towards capturing the sprinting money-goliath that is China’s immense population. I guess it’s not impossible it’ll walk this way eventually, though for now I believe CoD: Elite is the spearhead of Activision’s Western fortune-hunting interests. (more…)
- Revenge Of The Subscription Game - 2 July 2012
While knee-jerk analysts (the same ones who incorrectly declared Facebook gaming was a gold rush for all and sundry) at micro-conferences attended only by a minute echo chamber fragment of the games industry ritually declare that free to play is the only possible future of videogames, any number of other business models arrive, persist and grow. Free to play will expand, of that I have no doubt, but that’s not going to prevent a plurality of ways to acquire games. Bundles and crowdsourcing are the two most notable of the last year, while Sony’s shock purchase of Gaikai for $380m today suggests we’re about to see a whole lot more cloud-streamed (i.e. rented) gaming doing the mainstream rounds. Another latter-day content-flogging technique is subscriptions for multiplayer games – not MMOs, but the ‘games as service’ mentality that sees new content regul…
- CODBLOPS 2 Has Horses & Robots & Everything - 2 May 2012
It’s 1:06 AM in the UK. Why in the sacred name of Galvatron aren’t I in bed yet? Why am I posting the trailer for Black Ops 2 instead? These and more secrets will be revealed in Call of Meer’s Bedtime: Groggy Morning 2 tomorrow. In the meantime, just watch the damn trailer, which has all manner of future death-machines and a level of outright absurdity that even my great cynicism didn’t predict, and let me go brush my teeth. YES AMERICANS, BRITISH PEOPLE DO TAKE CARE OF THEIR TEETH, ACTUALLY. (more…)
- It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Rag Of Times - 24 April 2012
My digi-sighing about the initial marketing tease for the latest Call of Dudebro reminds me of a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (Somerset, at least) when I was still conjuring genuine excitement about what a new CoD might entail. Before they were cranked out anually, when the series’ creators still had full creative control, when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s singleplayer turned out to be an ambitious, spectacular and occasionally surprising epic and not an unsmiling, absurdist, arrogant snack alongside DLC-crazed multiplayer. When the series was relaxed and playful enough to include an unlockable ragtime mode. (more…)
- New Modern Warfare 3 Prestige Levels Hitting Xbox 360 Today, PS3 Next Week - 21 February 2012
The latest Call of Duty will get 400 new ranks and 5 new prestige levels for Xbox 360 today and PlayStation 3 on February 28, Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling said today. PC users got'em last week.
- In Two Weeks, You'll Fall to Your Death in the Next Call of Duty DLC Map - 7 February 2012
The globe-trotting nature of the Call of Duty series means that multiplayer maps have a plethora of locales to choose from. And the latest one is in… New York?! Wait, don't run away! The Overwatch map hitting on February 21st is different, since you'll be engaging in firefights 70 stories above the street in a skyscraper with no safety barriers. If you don't watch your step, a very stupid death will happen to you. As with all the DLC since Activision launched Call of Duty Elite service, you'll need to be an Xbox 360 player AND a premium Elite member to play Overwatch first. If you're a premium Elite member on PS3, you'll get it before other owners of Sony's console. If you need help figuring all this out, check out Stephen Totilo's article on the Call of Duty content season .
- Rob Riggle Shows You Today's New Modern Warfare 3 Maps, Yells a Lot - 24 January 2012
The Daily Show 's Rob Riggle continues his testosteronetastic bid to become gaming's most ridiculous/funny/obnoxious spokesman. This tim, he's walking viewers through Liberation and Piazza, two downloadable maps for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that were released today. "Aaaagh! Guns! Bombs!" He shouts. "Haaaagh! Noobs! Explosions! Kickass!" It's all kind of confusing, just like the last trailer Riggle did . But in the midst of his carrying on, you can get a look at the two new levels. They sure look like Modern Warfare levels to me.
- First Modern Warfare 3 DLC Coming in January - 21 December 2011
On a video show that's part of Call of Duty Elite's premium servive, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling announced that the "content season" for Modern Warfare 3 will start on January 24th. That's presumably when the first DLC will go live. 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. Bowling also tweeted a screen shot from the "Park" DLC map as well. We'll update you on Modern Warfare 3 DLC as we learn more.
- Snow > Gruff Men: Skyrim Is UK Xmas #1 - 19 December 2011
I’m still waiting for per-platform breakdowns that will confirm the PC version of Skyrim is as number oney as the all-formats result is, but this we do know: Skyrim is officially the number one videogame in the Christmas UK chart, outselling every other game over the last seven days. That means eight years of Activision and EA Chrimbo-list dominance comes to end in one fell, dragon-based swoop. (more…)
- How To Hire an In-Game Bodyguard, and Why You Should - 14 December 2011
Games like Battlefield and Call of Duty are worst when they are played by casual fans, people who may enjoy the occasional match but who don't take the time to daily hone their skills. I fit neatly into that category. Despite being a big fan of military shooters, I'm not very good at them. But I am good enough, I have played enough, to sense the peril I'm in the second I drop into a bout. That's why the idea of hiring someone better than me to protect and train me in live matches has some appeal. I wrote about gamers Toby Smith and Roman Vysotsky earlier this week. Both are proficient first-person shooter gamers who hire out their services as bodyguards. I stumbled upon the story weeks ago, noticing the online ad on a site and tracking it down to two people in Europe. I decided the best way to write about these different sorts of pro-gamers was to hire each of them and see how they did.…
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Made a Billion Bucks Faster Than Avatar - 12 December 2011
After making over three-quarters of a billion dollars in five days, Modern Warfare 3 hit a billion dollars in just 16 days since launch. According to Activision, Avatar took 17 days.
- Modern Warfare Played on a Truly Enormous HD Screen - 9 December 2011
Cowboys Stadium is home to the world's second largest HD screen. Who wants to watch football on that when it screams video games ? That's exactly what one lucky dude did with his three lucky friends. This was the grand sweepstakes prize as part of a Modern Warfare 3 promotion. When completed in 2009, the screen was the world's largest, with over 20,000 square feet of HD display. Playing Modern Warfare 3 on it looks mental. The above pic gives you a good idea what that was like—the short clip gives a better one. For some reason after watching it, I have the urge to drink Mountain Dew. Not sure why.
- Guess Which Game Still Isn't More Popular Than Call of Duty - 1 December 2011
Battlefield 3 couldn't do it and neither could Skyrim it seems, Call of Duty , two Call of Duty games actually, remain the most played games on Xbox Live for the week of Nov. 21. Yes, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim isn't even an online game, but Major Nelson's weekly list counts all games played on connected Xbox 360s. So the game itself doesn't have to be an online game, the player just needs to be logged in. That in mind, it's pretty impressive that single-player only Skyrim is in the number three spot, bumping Battlefield 3 from its purchase, but not touching Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or Call of Duty: Black Ops from their one and two spots, respectively.
- Call of Duty Elite Trailer Shows What It Looks Like When Activision’s FPS Facebook Actually Works - 28 November 2011
So, getting Call of Duty Elite functional has been a struggle for Activision. The publisher's promising that the social platform built for their best-selling FPS franchise will finally be mostly functional this week . The mega-publisher's turned out a trailer to celebrate this occasion. In the clip, you'll see an overview of Elite 's basic functionality as well as an upsell to entice folks to grab the premium package. I'm guessing that the one million people who've already paid for the highest level of the service won't take too kindly to further service hiccups so Activision better deliver on the whole "Play Better Together" thing. You can contact Evan Narcisse, the author of this post, at [email protected] . You can also find him on Twitter , Facebook , and lurking around our #tips page.
