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PSN Spring Fever franchise deals include Call of Duty, GTA
If the seven games debuting on PSN this month at discounted rates don't spice up Sony's Spring Fever sale enough for your liking, the sale will also include sales on four different franchises. Games and DLC in the Call of Duty, Need for Speed, BioShock and Grand Theft Auto series are on sale at varying points in March for all PSN users. The sale spans five games in the Need for Speed series, each down to $9.99 ($5 for PS Plus subscribers) tomorrow through March 10. Those games include Need for Speed: Most Wanted on both PS3 and Vita, Hot Pursuit on PS3, The Run on PS3 and Carbon on PSP and Vita. The Call of Duty series continues on March 11 through March 17 and features a variety of game and DLC bundles for Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops and Black Ops 2. Both Black Ops games can be purchased together for $69.99 ($62.99 on PS Plus) as well as all three Modern Warfare games for $64.99 ($58.49 for PS Plus members). Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series rolls in next on March 18 with sales lasting through March 24. The sale knocks GTA 5 down to $39.99, GTA 4 to $5.99 ($4.79 on PS Plus) as well as a handful of other PS3 and PSP games in the series ranging from $5.99 each ($4.79 for PS Plus) to $2.99 each ($2.39 on PS Plus). Lastly, the first two games in the BioShock series will also be $9.99 ($5 for PS Plus members) March 25 through March 31. Those games are joined by BioShock Infinite's Burial at Sea Episode 1 DLC for $10.40 ($7.34 on PS Plus) as well as Columbia's Finest Pack and Clash in the Clouds for $3.49 each ($2.44 on PS Plus). [Image: Rockstar Games]
BioShock 2, Call of Duty 4 and more OS X games on sale
With Thanksgiving just a week away in the US, several Mac game publishers already are dropping the prices on their Mac App Store titles in celebration. We're talking some steep discounts on some triple-A games, including: Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD on sale for $9.99, down from $19.99. Bastion on sale for $6.99, down from $14.99. Tomb Raider: Underworld on sale for $9.99, down from $24.99. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on sale for $4.99, down from $19.99. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on sale for $7.99, down from $29.99. BioShock 2 on sale for $11.99, down from $24.99. These are all great titles that we can recommend without hesitation. If there's a particular game you've had your eye on but don't see here, make sure to check the Mac App Store to find out if it's also on sale, since chances are it very well could be.
TUAW Giveaway: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Mac
One thing I love about the Mac App Store is that, game-wise, it eliminates the need to insert physical media into your Mac to play games. Over the past few days I've been playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on my MacBook Pro, and without the need for a disc, the game just flies, which helps make it that much more enjoyable. It also, of course, helps that Call of Duty is a heck of a great series. TUAW has teamed up with Aspyr to give away three Mac App Store copies of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to some lucky readers. To enter the giveaway, mentally prepare yourself to take down some bad guys and then simply leave a comment below. As always, here are the rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post. The comment must be left before Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Three winners will be selected in a random drawing. Each winner will receive one Mac App Store promo code for a copy of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Value: US$49.99). Click Here for complete Official Rules.
NPD: Guitar Hero 3 is this generation's highest-grossing game
Call of Duty: Black Ops might be the best-selling game by unit sales, but it isn't the US bestseller in terms of gross revenue. According to NPD data going back to 1995, and compiled by CNBC, the honor of the highest-grossing game of "this generation" goes to another Activision game, the Axl Rose-angering Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. Black Ops is #2. The list of the NPD's top ten best-selling games by revenue (after the break) includes a second Guitar Hero game, too -- R.I.P. -- along with Rock Band and both Wii Fits, which suggests that the best way to make a lot of revenue is simply to make your game cost more. Although Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii are also on the list, so maybe people just really like finding peripherals inside their game boxes, like cereal box prizes.
Call of Duty: Black Ops won't back down in E3 remix trailer
Video game fans love putting footage on YouTube, remixing gameplay with the sounds of Linkin Park and/or Eminem. Activision has outdone the fans, making their own official Call of Duty: Black Ops E3 trailer, featuring Eminem's "Won't Back Down." Much of the footage has been seen before, but you'll see a few frames of brand new footage of Treyarch's latest.
Games on Demand: Call of Duty 4, Battlestations: Midway
It's all about war on Xbox Live Games on Demand this week. Up for grabs are two war, one from the history books and another inspired by more modern fare. Battlestations: Midway puts players in charge of sea and air skirmishes of World War II. Meanwhile, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is ... well, you're probably familiar with that one. As always, even in war, prices and availability vary by region. Xbox.com: Add Battlestations: Midway to your Xbox 360 download queue ($19.99) Xbox.com: Add Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to your Xbox 360 download queue ($39.99)
Pachter: EA, DICE and Respawn will impact future Call of Duty sales
Do you imagine that every morning, when Michael Pachter wakes up, he dons a black robe, a pointy hat, drops a bunch of stuff into a bubbling cauldron and just predicts? Yeah, we do too. What a life, right? His latest portent involves Respawn Entertainment, the new shop of former Infinity Ward-ers Jason West and Vince Zampella, and it goes a little something like this: the Call of Duty franchise will see lowered sales, thanks to more competition in what we like to call 'the near-superhuman military dudes blowing junk up' market. "I think that it is likely that future games will sell fewer units in the past, primarily due to increased competition from Respawn, DICE and EA games that will likely be in the same or similar genres," Pachter said. He also anticipates that many gamers will recognize that West and Zampella are off the franchise, but that "the majority of consumers will either not know or will not care enough to shun future games." The lack of Infinity Ward's branding certainly didn't stop World at War from moving a bajillion units.
Study says violent gaming doesn't have a major impact on sleep
A team of Australian researchers recently conducted a study to determine what effect -- if any -- late-night violent gaming sessions have on a young person's sleep cycle. Two groups of teenage boys were either made to play 50 minutes of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare or watch March of the Penguins while lying in bed. The results showed that the group who played Modern Warfare took only a few minutes longer to fall asleep than those watching the movie, causing the researchers to think presleep gaming's negative effects "may be more modest than previously thought." These results aren't entirely conclusive, as some have taken umbrage with the relatively small 50-minute testing session, which is Sony's recommended amount of continuous gaming time. Personally, we're not convinced Modern Warfare was the best game to get these kids' adrenaline flowing. Next time, we suggest a rousing round of Flower. [Via GamePolitics]
XBLM listing reveals 5 maps, 2 CoD4 remakes in MW2 'Stimulus Package' DLC
We may have to wait until March 30 for Modern Warfare 2's first DLC, the "Stimulus Package," but thanks to an Xbox Live Marketplace listing for the map pack, we aren't in the dark anymore as to its contents. The blurb reveals the pack will contain "5 additional action-packed maps," including three all new ones ("Bailout, Storm, and Salvage"), as well as two remakes from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ("Crash" and "Overgrown"). "Bailout" is said to be "a multi-layered apartment complex," while "Storm" is described as "an open industrial park littered with heavy machinery," and "Salvage" is "a snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars." Presumably, if you're reading about the details of unreleased a MW2 map pack, you already knew that "Crash" is a "war-torn urban environment" and "Overgrown" is set in a large dry creek. No pricing is set, unfortunately, though you can ogle the XBLM listing for now if it makes you feel any better (though we wouldn't suggest it). [Update: Clarified Stimulus Package DLC date of release.] [Thanks CL4P-TP!]
NPD: Wii Play is best selling 'game' of all time in the US
If there's a statistic measuring how well a game sold, you're likely to find Wii Play lingering in it somewhere. It's not only been the best-selling game of 2009, but also just recently made itself known as the top seller for the last decade. Now, according to NPD data (via GameSpot), the software-hardware hybrid has claimed another throne: top-selling non-PC US game ever. It's a pretty prestigious list and while no exact figures are listed (save for the bundle's October performance, selling a whopping 11.1 million units in that month alone), the other games listed should give you an indication of just how many homes Wii Play has invaded. Taking second place is Guitar Hero III, the first game to earn $1 billion in revenue, followed by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The others in the top ten are generally expected, including Activision's other $1 billion earner, Modern Warfare 2 (notable because, damn, that was fast!), along with a pair of other Call of Duty games. Head over to GameSpot for the full list.
Xbox Live Top Ten: Call of Duty holds 3 of top 5 slots
You know what we want for Christmas? A more interesting Xbox Live Activity top ten to write about. Just as it did the week of Nov. 9, the Call of Duty franchise has held up three of the top five slots this week, with Halo 3 in second place and Grand Theft Auto IV taking the spot formerly held by the Left 4 Dead 2 demo. As hard as we might wish for a shakeup in the new year, we're not sure what title's going to be the one to do it. Surely we won't see four CoD games in the top five in 2010. Surely.
Xbox Live Top 10: People apparently played CoD4, World at War
Seriously, guys? Everyone on the planet runs out and buys Modern Warfare 2 and you're still playing Call of Duty 4 and World at War? We can understand you folks who chose to play Halo 3 -- the whole Modern Warfare 2 experience may not be your idea of a good time -- but Major Nelson's Xbox Live activity chart for the week of November 9 simply vexes us. In less puzzling news, the XBLA activity is along the lines of something we're used to seeing. Trials HD remains atop the list, followed by Castle Crashers and South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play. Konami's Zombie Apocalypse also managed to survive the gauntlet and make its way onto the list and, combined with the recent release of Left 4 Dead 2, we feel mankind is finally starting to reach acceptable levels of preparation for the inevitable future of a world plagued by the undead.
Digital Foundry analyzes Wii Modern Warfare, deemed 'functional'
Obviously, the Wii port of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was going to have a few setbacks visually. However, Digital Foundry's recent hands-on with the game suggests developer Treyarch was successful in recreating the overall feel of the original game. "Texture detail and geometry levels are savagely hacked down, lighting effects and shadowing are brutally pared back, frame-rate is cut from 60FPS down to the more manageable 30FPS," the preview notes. However, "it does a good enough job of capturing the look of the original," Digital Foundry concludes.Of course, visuals aren't the most important aspect of Modern Warfare's transition to the Wii. Digital Foundry answers the hard-pressing question: how does it control? At times "beautifully," although "awkward button placement on the controller makes things difficult for anything other than running and gunning."It may be watered down, but Reflex will finally grant Wii owners the ability to see what all the fuss was about. While the port is deemed "functional," we can't help but lament the fact that this Wii port still can't best some games from the last generation of consoles.
Deal of the week: 50% off CoD 4's Variety Map Pack
This week, Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers will be able to snag Call of Duty 4's Variety Map Pack for half off, Activision announced. We've seen this with car dealers a million times. With next year's model -- Modern Warfare 2 -- about to hit the show floor soon, Activision is looking to get as much as it can out of the older model.Still, if you're happy fragging folks in the older model, then you may want to check out the Variety Map Pack -- which has been discounted by half to 400 ($5) on Xbox Live and $4.99 on PSN, culminating in a double XP event for both consoles this coming weekend. Though odds are, if you care about this dinosaur of a game still, you and a majority of the other 13 million or so players probably already own this content.%Gallery-19521%
Joystiq is undecided about Wal-Mart's Modern Warfare 2 ad
We just can't quite figure out what to make of Wal-Mart's new Modern Warfare 2 ad. Sure, it's kind of funny, featuring two dudes ragging on one another. It gets across the idea that people can buy the game at Wal-Mart really fast, continuing the store's "fastest way to play" campaign. It does not, however, help us decide if Modern Warfare 2 is something we want to play. Granted, the readers and staff of Joystiq already know the answer to that particular quandary. The company ran similar ads for Madden 09 and Madden 10, which certainly don't need in depth advertising to get people excited. Has Call of Duty reached Madden levels of recognition? Is the name the only marketing it needs at this point? Apparently, Wal-Mart thinks so. See the ad after the break. [Via Destructoid]
COD4 on the cheap on Steam this weekend
Just in time to wring a few more sales out of Call of Duty 4 before Modern Warfare 2 hits the market, Steam is marking the game down to $23.99 through Monday. We're told that's a 40-percent savings, which we're also told is rather considerable. What we know, however, is that Call of Duty 4 is an excellent electronic game cartridge, and it's easily worth the scratch. And seriously, at this point, there are approximately only twelve people that haven't played it. So, we'd just like to congratulate Steam in advance for the $287.88 it will rake in this weekend.
Infinity Ward: Activision didn't want Call of Duty to go Modern
Activision's always been a company with a finger squarely placed upon the pulse of the gaming culture. It knows what we need -- and what we need is more World War 2-based first-person shooters. Call of Duty's part-time developer Infinity Ward struggled with that notion for years according to a recent Official PlayStation Magazine interview with Ward's Vince Zampella. If Activision had its way, Zampella explained, Modern Warfare probably never would have happened. Whoa, did anyone else just get a really weird chill down their spine? Zampella said Activision "thought working on a modern game was risky," and went so far as to conduct "market research" supporting its fears to quell Infinity Ward's desire for modernization. We're not sure which market Activision surveyed, however, as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare moved over 14 million units. We bet the publisher talked to WWII veterans. "Yeah, our war was the coolest! Kids today with their AC-130s. That's not fightin'. That's just flyin' a big, bomb droppin' robot kite."
Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD, Forza 3 demo
As our more astute readers likely gathered from this very post's headline, another week has gone, so it's about time we checked in with Major Nelson to see what made his list of the most-played games on Xbox Live. Unsurprisingly, Bungie's dynamic duo of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST managed to do well, taking the first and third spots, respectively -- Call of Duty 4 was in the second slot, while Forza 3's demo managed to get some play time on folks' boxes, taking a tight turn into the seventh place spot. On the XBLA side, Trials HD did backflips to the top of the list, beating out recent releases Zombie Apocalypse and Bust-A-Move Live!. The remainder of the XBLA list saw favorites Battlefield 1943 and Shadow Complex rounding out the bottom end of the top five.
Xbox Live Top 10 dominated by Shadow Complex, CoD: World at War
Major Nelson has revealed the latest figures for Xbox Live activity, which once again sees Call of Duty: World at War being the most played Xbox 360 Live title. That's not to say it's all business as usual, as the Lost Planet 2 co-op demo managed to claw its way onto the list, along with a new Xbox Live Arcade pair, Shadow Complex and Trials HD.Both titles made it onto the top two spots on XBLA's most played list, with Chair's Metroid-inspired adventure making its debut in first place. The remainder is comprised of usual suspects Battlefield 1943, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and 'Splosion Man.
CVG: No multiplayer beta for Modern Warfare 2 [update]
Update: Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has given the final word on a Modern Warfare 2 beta, saying it's not out of the realm of possibility, but also not very likely. "While no Public Beta is currently announced we do plan on running an extensive Closed Beta among Infinity Ward, Activision, and possibly first party partners worldwide ... once the internal beta is completed, if for any reason we feel we didn't receive the feedback, address the issues, or have the result we expect, we would consider pushing forward with a public one. However at this point only an internal Closed Beta is planned." And that's that! ... or is it?! (We're pretty sure it is.)We know you had a great time testing Call of Duty 4's multiplayer component before the final game launched, so we're sad to note CVG's report that Modern Warfare 2 will not go the same route as its predecessor. An Activision spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that there will be no multiplayer beta for the game. We also know that sucks, so in an effort to get Activision and developer Infinity Ward to change their minds, we've started this online petition. It's bound to get their attention, right? Hello? Are you going to get a pen? It's on the internet, you don't need one![Thanks, Cr4sh Dummy]
