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Would You Rather ... Laggy Edition
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?It's the eternal question and a mainstay in the argument during the silly console war. Which is better? Dedicated servers or peer-to-peer connection? Sounds silly to even ask but let us examine our experiences.While peer-to-peer has powered the vast majority of Xbox Live titles, some games have seen dedicated love. But how are the results? EA primarily uses their own servers to power their games, but have had issues. Frontlines: Fuel of War runs off a dedicated server farm, but it's been plagued with reports of lag too. Peer-to-peer has treated us well so far, but insane situations like XBLA titles running poorly, Team Fortress 2's virtual unplayability and issues stemming from the host migration in Call of Duty 4 makes this week's WUR a tough one. So X3F Army, tell us...Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... and stop breathing heavily into the mic!
Call of Duty 4 GOTY edition releasing in April
For those who still have yet to jump into the modern warfare battlefield, then we advise holding off on a Call of Duty 4 purchase for another month, because a new SKU will be hitting retail shelves soon.Yesterday, Activision announced that they'll be releasing a Call of Duty 4 Game of the Year edition which will feature updated box art as well as an Xbox Live redemption token to download this Spring's upcoming multiplayer map DLC for free. A redemption token worth 800 Microsoft points. Acti didn't mention a firm release date for this special GOTY edition or if it'll be released on any other gaming platforms. And we hope it doesn't. We're greedy fanboys who want everything for ourselves.[Via Joystiq]
Call of Duty 4 gets 'Game of the Year' edition next month
It's a scientific fact that there's no reason you shouldn't have bought Call of Duty 4 yet. What, you don't like shooters? Too bad. Get motion sick while playing FPSs? Take a Dramamine. Don't have a next-gen console or PC? Get a second job. Not only do we think it's one of the year's best, you're possibly the only person who hasn't purchased a copy yet.Keeping all that in mind, if you haven't bought the game, you may have good reason to hold off, if only for a bit longer. MCV brings word that Activision will release a Game of the Year edition of the game next month. Aside from new packaging, expect a token to allow you to download the forthcoming map pack for the game. Not exactly earth-shattering, but (depending on the price) this sounds like the only version of CoD 4 you latecomers should be looking for.At the moment, MCV's only reporting on a 360 version of the GOTY edition. Activision tells us that more details should be coming this week, we'll let you know when we hear if PS3 owners will be getting some love.
Video: Say hello to Call of Duty 4's Chinatown
As most of you know, team Infinity Ward is jumping head first into the DLC pool by bringingtfour new multiplayer maps to the Call of Duty 4 community sometime this Spring. One of the four new CoD4 maps being a remake of the uber popular CoD2 map Carentan, now prettified, set in Chinatown and is called ... Chinatown. Fitting. And Mr. fourzerotwo himself (with the help of Geoff Keeley) has just given us our first glimpse of all the Chinatown action with the release of a teaser video which we've embedded above. Watch, drool, look at the pretty lights and wait patiently for tomorrow. Fourzerotwo promises that new Call of Duty 4 DLC details will hit the news wire and it'll make a gigantic news KABLAAM![Thanks, CB]
New COD4 maps detailed by GameSpot
The folks at GameSpot got their meat hooks on two of the four downloadable maps coming to Call of Duty 4. First and foremost, players will be happy to know that some of the new maps will not be set in the Middle East or Russia. GameSpot got to look at Broadcast and Creek, the first of which being set in the television station seen during the campaign mission "Charlie Don't Surf." The environment from the campaign is faithfully replicated with some design changes made to suit multiplayer. Creek, on the other hand, is set somewhere entirely new, complete with lush greenery, cliffs, a cave and, yes, a creek. The map is "massive" according to GameSpot with lots of places to go. The final two maps are "Chinatown" and "Killhouse." The first is fairly obvious, while the second map was apparently inspired by the training course from the first mission of the game. The price for the DLC remains a mystery as does its release date (though it was originally billed as a "spring" release). Hit the "read" link for GameSpot's full impressions.
Gamespot gets hands-on with new Call of Duty 4 maps
Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling ("fourzerotwo" to you Call of Duty 4 fans) promised us something different from the game's first map pack, and Gamespot recently got a hands-on with two of the maps to put that to the test. The first map is called "Broadcast," set in the TV station from the single-player mission "Charlie Don't Surf." The largely indoor level has been expanded significantly from the single-player campaign though.Next up is "Creek," a sprawling outdoor map full of natural cover from foliage and (you guessed it) a creek. There will be two more maps in the final pack, "Chinatown" and "Killhouse," which is apparently inspired by the single-player campaign's training level. You can read more about all of them right here.
COD4 patch ruins the game outside of America?
With the COD4 feature patch having received good initial reception from the community it's a bit surprising to discover that some players are reporting problems. Specifically there are problems with the host-migration feature that was supposed to help the connection problems. It seems that gamers outside of the Americas are having trouble getting a host who is local enough to them that they can get a good connection. GeekPulp was able to get a response from the Infinity Ward Community Manager, Robert Bowling, who had this to say:"That doesn't mean it will always choose a US player, but I understand that the odds are typically stacked against some of our more remote players to be selected as host. We're currently looking at options available that might help out with those odds and I'll keep you updated on it."So hopefully we'll soon be seeing another patch that'll fix the things that the first was supposed to take care of. In meantime, to our readers overseas, have you all noticed any effect on the game since the patch?[Via GeekPulp]
Activision exec discusses Call of Duty MMO
In a discussion with investors yesterday, Actvision CEO Bobby Kotick mentioned how the soon-to-be-formalized merger with Vivendi Universal would give the new company the ability to leverage their properties in ways that were never before possible. Specifically, he mentioned how Activision could conceivably tap into the technical and creative expertise of Blizzard in developing the Call of Duty franchise into an MMO. This follows on the heels of another recent comment he made in public recently about Activision's research into the MMO space, and their perception of the considerably monetary barriers to entry.While nothing about Kotick's comments seemed to indicate that a Call of Duty MMO was actually in development, it's still an interesting prospect to think about. Call of Duty 4, which is currently the most actively played game on Xbox Live, actually contains a number of gameplay elements reminiscent of an online RPG. There are classes, various skills and challenges to grind, and a persistent experience gain. It really wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine Call of Duty in an MMO context, or at the very least, containing even more elements from the genre to grab players and keep them coming back. But the very prospect of a collaboration between Infinity Ward and Blizzard is almost simply too much for my geek brain to handle, so for my sanity I'm just going to have to assume this was all executive-speak, and such a game will never happen.
Will Arnett, fighting the good fight with Call of Duty
Actor-comedian Will Arnett was recently a guest on the Late Show Late Night with Conan O'Brien and described to Conan one of his favorite pastimes. "Call of Duty isn't going to play itself," Arnett told Conan explained as he tried to describe why he wouldn't want to die real life (who knows how that came up).The short clip ends with a funny Xbox Live story that will ring as familiar for anyone who uses the online gaming service. Give it a watch. As for dying, we're with Arnett in thinking we'd rather not at this point, not at least until we find the respawn button for life.[Thanks, zizzy. Via Megatonik]
Call of Duty 4 patch storms the Xbox 360
Nearly every news tip this morning has been about one thing, Call of Duty 4. Prompted by an auto-update, gamers noticed that the highly anticipated patch for COD4 has finally been made available. Some of the key elements addressed in the patch include, quick mute system adopted from Halo 3, third-person perspective for spectator mode and new kill cam views for claymore, air strike and grenade kills that are sure to add insult-to-injury. Potentially, the most sought after fix was host migration. While adding nothing to the overall experience of the game it does act as a virtual Advil for fixing an head-pounding annoyance. Originally, when the host would leave a multiplayer session all players would be booted back to the main menu of the game. With the new host migration feature the game selects a new host and while the map will restart, groups will be able to stay together. Today's auto-update, coupled with the upcoming downloadable content, is another sign Infinity Ward is reloading their weapons in the battle for Xbox Live seniority. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Call of Duty 4 feature patch is now live
You may remember last week when we told you about the chock-full feature patch that would be hitting Call of Duty 4 sometime in the near future. Well, friends: The future is now. ... At least, it is for Xbox 360 owners. We're assuming PlayStation 3 players will be getting it soon if they haven't already, we just haven't had a chance to test yet.In case you missed the post (for shame!) expect host migration (even when a host drops teams stay together), better accuracy for snipers and ACOG scope users, an expanded Kill Cam that includes claymores, airstrikes and grenades, nine new spawn points on each map, quick mute and some other tweaks. ... Well, what are you waiting for? Go play already!
COD4 patch could hit before the weekend
According to a blog post by the Infinity Ward Community Manager, Robert Bowling, the feature patch for COD4 didn't run into any problems in it's encounter with the Microsoft certification demons. He reports that if we're all lucky (and if he gets some work done) the new feature update could go live before the weekend. However like an experienced community manager, he add the caveat that things are never set, and that by no means is the patch "guaranteed" to be online before week's end.Other than that news, the post contains some talk on COD4's DLC, which is promised to have some "special treat for loyal COD4 players." What that means is anyone's guess at the moment, but Robert also promises that we'll be seeing some screens and a video clip of the new DLC soon. Here's hoping that the Infinity Ward guys can get that patch out before all the weekend players hit the tubes.
Same old story: CoD4 is still the Xbox Live king
We're thinking that reporting on the weekly Xbox Live Activity may be a bit redundant now, seeing that the Call of Duty 4 / Halo 3 tug-o-war has died down with CoD4 again being the most played Live game last week. CoD4 has been on top of the list for something like four weeks straight and it's sort of becoming the norm. We've lost our fanboy excitement and miss the comment battles between unruly H3 and CoD4 fanboys. Humph. We'll see what next week brings and if H3 can climb the hill once again. Maybe we'll stuff the ballot box so to speak by gathering the community for a final H3 achievement push. Maybe, but doubtful.On a side note, it's nice to see N+ on top of the XBLA list this week. Those free XNA games may have stole some of its spotlight, but N+ obviously didn't mind.[Image: Mjolnir Armor]
Sunday Deals: H3, BioShock, Lost Planet and more
Hey, it's Sunday and that means its time to surf the internets, open those newspapers and look for the best gaming deals this week. But we've already done the work for you, so please, allow us to share ... This week, Best Buy has two decent offers, one being that you can get a free $10 gift card with the purchase of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and the other being $10 off Call of Duty 4. Heading North to our Canadian Best Buy friends, not only can you grab Kameo for $15, but they're also offering BioShock for free with the purchase of an Xbox 360. And remember, Xbox 360 prices in Canada recently dropped (Pro: $349, Elite: $449 and Arcade: $279), so that's a very juicy offer. Next up, Circuit City. They've heavily discounted Lost Planet to $20, cut the price of Conflict: DO to $40 and have taken 20% off the price of BlackSite, Kane & Lynch, Turok, Halo 3 and BioShock dropping their price to $48 each. Finally, this week at Target stores, they're selling PGR4 for $30, Scene It? for $50 and The Orange Box or NFS: ProStreet for a cool $40. That's all the deals we could spot this week, but feel free to share with your fellow fanboys any other offers you spot while out and about this week. Happy shopping and stay safe.
COD4 continues XBL dominance; Halo 3 cowers
As seen before, the battle for the most-played game on Xbox Live seems to be slowly showing signs of finality. With COD4 holding the top spot for several weeks in a row now, we could be seeing the long term dethroning of the old master of the top played game of the service. Major Nelson released his list of most played games, as he does each week, and it seems that the collective 360 population has moved on from the older Halo formula, and onto the more gritty, "realistic" gameplay of COD4. Whether or not the release of the new Auto-Update for Halo 3 will lure players back and let the game regain the top-spot will just have to wait until next week.
COD4 Feature Patch off to MS for Certification
A patch to add features to the most-played game on Live has been handed off to Microsoft by the folks at Infinity Ward, and as soon as Microsoft's quality assurance demons do their jobs, our 360's will be full of auto-updating joy. The patch info was given out by Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward Community Relations Manager, and from what he revealed we'll be enjoying a bunch of interesting new stuff.The main features include the following: new kill cams allowing you to see that guy who destroyed you more often than before. Better host control, now the host will be able to leave the game without wrecking everything for everyone else who's left behind, the host will just change instead. Sniper scopes and ACOG scopes have been tweaked to have them to be easier to use, making them more fluid and natural. Last of the major additions, there will now be a quick mute option similar to Halo 3's, just select a player on the scoreboard screen or lobby, and you'll be able to mute them right then and there.These changes all seem to be for the best (though we'll see how the sniper balance plays out) and we can't wait for the patch to go live, even if it does make us pine for another auto-update as well.
Call of Duty 4 maintains top Live spot
The battle for Xbox Live supremacy continues this week. Quick recap: about a month ago, Call of Duty 4 managed to kick Halo 3 off of the top Xbox Live spot. The following week, Halo 3 returned to the number one slot. Last week, COD4 knocked Halo 3 off of its perch once again. Well, guess what folks: Major Nelson just posted the most recent Xbox Live top ten and ... Call of Duty 4 is still number one. That's right, Call of Duty 4 has been number one for two weeks in a row. Can it last? Frankly, we hope not, because finding images for the COD4 / Halo 3 feud is one of the highlights of our week.
Ex-Marine goes missing supposedly after Call of Duty triggered flashbacks
Eric Hall, a 24-year-old Floridian and retired Marine, has now been missing for a week. His friends say that shortly after playing Call of Duty (4, we assume), Hall "just got up and said that he had to go." He was last seen departing his home on a motorcycle, which was later found on the side of a road. The local sheriff's office claims that the man was suffering from hallucinations and flashbacks to his time spent serving in Iraq, where he was injured during a patrol by an exploding bomb, which did tremendous damage to the left side of his body, and reportedly decapitated Hall's best friend in front of his eyes.It's not exactly confirmed that Call of Duty was behind Hall's disappearance -- after all, we found the story on Fox News, who has a less than objective view of video gaming as a whole. Regardless, we wish Hall's family the best of luck in locating him, though, as Hall's father pointed out, it's tough to find a Marine that doesn't want to be found.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Call of Duty 4, Motorstorm walk away with AIAS awards
Critics really love Call of Duty 4. PS3 Fanboy's choice for GOTY took home the gold as the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awarded Infinity Ward's shooter its most coveted award. PS3 fans that don't believe in multiplatform titles may be disappointed to hear that PS3 exclusives did not fare so well with the industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. Motorstorm is the only game to take home an award, for Best Racing Game.See a list of PS3-relevant winners, after the cut.[Via Joystiq]
Activision Q4 sales up 80% to $1.48 billion
One of the nice things about being the top US publisher in a booming game industry is that it affords you the privilege of announcing record holiday sales. Activision's third fiscal quarter, stretching from October to December 2007, saw the publisher's sales increase by 80% over the year prior to $1.48 billion, with profits amounting to $272.2 million. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are the key titles to praise if you're Activision and blame if you're a consumer wondering where all your hard-earned money went.Activision anticipates a further $350 million in sales to originate from its fourth fiscal quarter (ending in March), ultimately contributing to a projected $2.65 billion for the entire fiscal year 2008. As long as shootin' and shreddin' remain popular and the upcoming Vivendi merger stays on track, we don't expect to put "bankrupt" and "Activision" in the same sentence for a very long time. Well, not unless one those words is preceded by "creatively."
