modern-warfare-3
Latest
FIFA 12 kicks off year atop UK charts, Zumba returns
The first week of 2012 sees massive double-digit percentage drops across Chart-Track's UK sales top ten. FIFA 12 remains at the top, with a 63 percent drop, as Battlefield 3 takes second, despite it being hit with the exact same decrease in sales. Modern Warfare 3 moves into third and Just Dance 3 maintains fourth, with sales slipping 76 and 67 percent, respectively. With such huge post-holiday sales drops, a stalwart returns to the top ten in fifth: Zumba Fitness. The desire to work off those Christmas pounds sent the exercise game up 11 percent, returning it to the top ten from its exile in 19th place. Several other fitness titles also moved up the charts, despite seeing sales declines, as the chart finds its after the holidays equilibrium. Run past the break for the UK top ten -- we could all use it to work off that fruitcake, phew.
Call of Duty Elite's mobile app launches tomorrow on iOS, next week on Android
You're standing in line for lunch, replaying last night's match on Arkaden in Modern Warfare 3 in your mind, when you remember the final shot -- you really wanted that gun. You could wait until you get home, check your recent matches on Elite and shank the winning shooter's weapon of choice -- like a peasant -- or you could do it right there, in line, on your phone -- like a boss. This is the vision Beachhead Studios head Chacko Sonny has for Call of Duty Elite's free mobile app, hitting iOS smart phones tomorrow, Jan. 10, and Android one week later. The Elite app will offer four main areas of mobile control: Career summary: Just like Elite main, check stats and general player information on yourself and others you've played Recent matches: After-action report on the past 10 matches, including scores, kill/death ratios, map information for yourself and others in the match Challenge Tracker: Tracks your progress through specific challenges Customize classes: Modify your loadout -- weapons, perks, attachments -- and push custom classes directly to game Anything altered in the Elite mobile app that affects loadouts or in-game options will be exported to console, and players will accept the changes after logging on. Most of the app's functions have been modified to fit a smaller screen, especially Sonny's favorite, class customization. Beachhead Studios developers have been testing the mobile app on their own phones, and Sonny said it expands the realm of bragging rights considerably because players will have proof -- or not -- of their achievements right in their pockets.
Best of the Rest: Arthur's picks of 2011
Battlefield 3 I love Battlefield 3. I love it almost as much as it seems to hate its players. At least, that's the way it feels sometimes, trying to get into a game, trying to get correctly squaded up, trying to find a server with room, having to use a server browser on consoles in 2011, downloading 2 GIGABYTE patches ... y u no luv me, BF3? But when it does love me, it loves me so well ... and there I go, into that cycle of abuse again.
Best of the Rest: Jess' picks of 2011
To the Moon Sometimes we play games to ease real-life frustrations, to cure boredom, to slaughter enemies or to participate in a captivating story. To the Moon, developed by Freebird Games, can do all of these things. It doesn't require you to murder any foes, although its very foundation is in death, and it offers a soothing, philosophical story with more depth than its pixelated graphics initially suggest. As a point-and-click adventure, To the Moon is more of an interactive tale than a full-on game, yet it is so engaging that the lack of quests, boss fights or bullets becomes irrelevant. To the Moon chronicles the last day of an old man's life, but that day includes a Benjamin Button-style adventure through his past as a duo of snarky scientists attempt to change his memories. Why? So that his final wish can come true, at least in his mind, before he dies. In the end, To the Moon is a beautiful and complex love story and, though I don't want to give the entire plot away, I'll tell you his final wish has something to do with interstellar travel.
FIFA 12 finishes year atop UK charts, Old Republic slides way down
Chart-Track's UK sales chart for the week ending December 31, 2011, is up, showing the family-friendly footie time (don't go to a dark place, don't go to a dark place!) of FIFA closing out the year as champion. Nearly every game in the top eight held its position from the Christmas Eve list, except for Battlefield 3, which twirled Just Dance 3 around to take its spot in third. Chart-Track notes this is the second year in a row that the FIFA franchise has held the top spot during the final week. It's also the fourth time FIFA 12 has scored a first place finish, tying with FIFA 10 and FIFA 11's glory days. Star Wars: The Old Republic takes one of the largest dips we've seen on the charts, going from tenth place during launch week to 38. This would certainly be a time to call in the Ewoks for reinforcements, if it weren't for Old Republic being a PC game. It's reasonable to guess many sales are occurring through EA's Origin digital distribution network.
Old Republic debuts in 10th, FIFA runs up UK charts before Christmas
Chart-Track's UK sales list for the week leading up to Christmas Eve had FIFA 12 rallying, with sales up 34 percent, to score a first place finish. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 moved up one spot replacing Just Dance 3, which despite having a seven percent increase in sales, simply couldn't maintain its position and oscar mike'd into third. The big premiere of the week was EA's Star Wars: The Old Republic, which debuted in tenth place, having launched on Tuesday the 20th. This is irregular for the UK, since most games launch on Friday. Despite the extra time, the high-profile MMO's launch week didn't beat out Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The saving grace of The Old Republic's lower ranking premiere is Chart-Track doesn't count digitally distributed copies. According to EA, things are going well with its new MMO. Check out the UK's top ten games for the pre-Christmas week after the break.
Modern Warfare 3 hides an angry bear wearing a tutu
And why wouldn't it?
First Modern Warfare 3 DLC drops January 24 on Xbox [update: first screen]
Speaking on the Call of Duty Elite program, "Roll Call," Infinity Ward community guru Robert Bowling revealed that the first batch of Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be available next month. Specifically, Bowling announced that the "full season of content for Modern Warfare 3 kicks off for Elite subscribers January 24th on Xbox Live." As usual, expect the DLC to remain exclusive to Xbox for some time before launching on PS3 and PC. Bowling didn't drop details on what the first batch of content would contain, though he did hint MW3 DLC would cover a wide spectrum, including Spec Ops and "a variety of things that players have never seen before." All of this is made possible by the massive development team, featuring Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer and Raven Software. Oh, and if you're having trouble finding this particular video on Call of Duty Elite, it might be because it's in the Elite TV section, which is reserved for premium (read: "paid") members. Update: Bowling has tweeted an image from the upcoming DLC, a map known simply as "Park." It's worth mentioning that Park was mentioned in a rumored leak late last month. Other maps mentioned included Overwatch, Cement, Italy and (ahem) Morningwood.
12 Days of Joyswag: Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition and Munitio headphones
Another year, another 12 days of holiday giveaways! Between now and Christmas Day, we're doing the one thing that makes us feel truly alive: giving. Specifically, we're giving you fine folks some of the swag we've managed to collect in our cluttered home offices. And the good will and merriment doesn't stop here! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for even more chances to win! Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It's the biggest game of the year but something tells us that at least one of you still hasn't picked it up. And for that person, we've got the Hardened Edition on Xbox 360 along with a pair of MW3-themed Munitio headphones which, while they won't work with your console at all, will illustrate your brand allegiance to everyone outside your home.
Modern Warfare 3 adds Community Playlists, title update
Modern Warfare 3 players are in for a few treats today. First off, Activision's blockbuster has been updated with multiplayer playlist tweaks and an entirely new mode. Dubbed "Drop Zone," the latter tasks players with capturing and holding a ... drop zone. The team with the most players in the zone will receive a care package every fifteen seconds. The twist: Earning care packages is the only way to achieve pointstreaks. Drop Zone marks the first entry in the new Community Playlists section, which will play host to "popular or unique private match modes" created by users themselves. The second playlist change is the addition of Hardcore Headquarters Ricochet to the Hardcore playlist. Furthermore, all Hardcore modes will now feature ricochet, meaning that all friendly fire will be reflected back to the attacker. In other words: Shooting a teammate is basically shooting yourself. Finally, Infinity Ward community guru Robert Bowling has tweeted that a title update will be available today to address "Host Disadvantage" / "Lag Compensation."
Infinity Ward issuing Modern Warfare 3 bans that last 5000 days
Infinity Ward is issuing its version of a "permaban" to offensive Modern Warfare 3 players, in the form of a ban lasting 5000 days. "If you see this message," IW Creative Strategist Robert Bowling confirmed on Twitter, "it means you've been Permabanned (for something bad)." Really, when you think about it, IW is being charitable to cheaters and other malcontents by issuing bans lasting only 13 and a half years. That's not really permanent at all! Maybe you should thank Infinity Ward for its beneficence by not hacking your game or being outrageously racist. Otherwise, you'll be thinking about how to live your life until you turn 26.
Redbox reveals top rentals of 2011
Ubiquitous disc kiosk dispensary Redbox has shared its top game rentals of 2011, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for Xbox 360 commanding the top spot. It's no surprise that Modern Warfare 3, which earned $775 million at retail in a week, would also find itself again in fifth place with the PS3 version. It was, like, the biggest game launch ever. Ubisoft has two members of its successful Just Dance franchise on the Redbox list, with Just Dance 3 and Smurfs Dance Party in fifth and seventh spots, respectively. Surprise summer hit Dead Island rounds out the top three. The game's rocky launch may have scared off some purchases, but that didn't stop Deep Silver (and Square Enix) from shipping millions of copies of the game. This was Redbox's first "official" year of game rentals, expanding its test market of 5,000 last year to nearly 27,000 kiosks nationwide over the summer. Check out the full top ten after the break.
Modern Warfare 3 update addresses lag, certain glitches
Good news, soldiers: The multiplayer component of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has received its sixth title update since the game's launch; a patch which addresses lag and a number of glitches players have been exploiting for their own nefarious, personal gain. Gone are the days of melee-jumping, as well as clan tags which use the controller's symbols to spell dirty words. (Bal[LS] indeed, sir.) A number of guns have also been tweaked (see: nerfed) as hotfixes introduced to the title. You can check out a full list of these readjusted armaments after the jump, and pray that your precious, precious firearm evaded the developers' all-seeing eye.
Modern Warfare 3 and the rest of the CoD family on sale today at Amazon
Many, many people have already picked up copies of this year's Call of Duty entry, Modern Warfare 3. This we know. But what about those of you hoping against logic that the game -- one of the fastest selling media properties of all time -- would drop its price relatively close to launch? Bizarrely, your time has come, with Amazon offering Modern Warfare 3 for $50 (10 percent off) across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, today only. In fact, the entire stable of Call of Duty titles are on sale (not to mention various DS and Wii iterations) going all the way back to Modern Warfare 1. Amazon promises a day of Assassin's Creed savings tomorrow, so perhaps holding off on a purchase of Revelations this afternoon would be a smart move.
Activision trumpets $1 billion for Modern Warfare 3
As Bobby Kotick nestles himself between a cloud masquerading as a mattress and a gold-trimmed white goose down duvet (the goose has the gold trim, not the duvet), his mind can gently waft into unconsciousness, accompanied by the pleasing crackle of bloggers typing "one billion dollars." Activision announced the enormous sales figure for Modern Warfare 3 this morning, claiming the milestone flew by within 16 days of the game's launch. We hope George Michael was adequately rewarded for providing his flattest cover yet. The information is derived from retailer sell-through data and the UK's Chart-Track service, and is positioned in comparison to entertainment nemesis Hollywood, where 2009's Avatar took longer to reach the same sales (19 in total if you ask Wikipedia). James Cameron's 3D spectacle rested on an awful lot of noses and eventually reached $2 billion worldwide. Alas, that's an indication of Modern Warfare 3's diminishing returns in the news sphere. Next year, we want to see two billion bucks before we commit a sentence.
November NPD: A new record, with Xbox 360 joined by MW3 and Skyrim on top (Update 2: Sony PR added)
(Update: Microsoft Chief of Interactive Entertainment Aaron Greenberg has released Xbox 360 sales via Twitter, which are included below.) It's a little good, a little bad with this year's November 2011 NPD results. While "unit sales grew for console hardware, as well as console, portable, and PC software," NPD analyst Anita Frazier warns that "a decline in average retail price in all categories" besides portable hardware resulted in dollar sales that were flat compared to last November. That said, November 2011 "marks the best November on record for sales of new physical content," besting the previous record holder, November 2008. Unsurprisingly, the Xbox 360 was the top selling piece of gear for the month and Frazier notes that the "gap between 360 sales and sales of the next best selling platform was the largest we've seen since December 2008 when the Nintendo DS was the top selling system." Microsoft Chief of Interactive Entertainment Aaron Greenberg later added via Twitter that the Xbox 360 sold 1.7 million consoles during the month of November, up 23% year over year. For the month, Nintendo announced it sold more than 860,000 Wii systems, more than 795,000 Nintendo 3DS systems and more than 350,000 Nintendo DS systems. Meanwhile, Sony declined to provide specific sales numbers for the PS3. According to Sony PR chief Patrick Seybold, "PlayStation 3 is off to a phenomenal start to the holiday season, recording the best ever Black Friday sales period in the console's five-year history. According to the November NPD report the PS3 saw a 70% increase in hardware and a 30% increase in software year-over-year." The PS3 sold 530,000 units last year, which would situate PS3 sales for November 2011 in the neighborhood of 901,000 units. In the software arena, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took its perch at the top of the charts, besting Black Ops "by about 7%," while Skyrim managed "a five-fold increase over Oblivion's first month sales" coming in just a half-million units short of matching its predecessor's lifetime sales. Other newcomers include single SKU exclusives like Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception in seventh place and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in ninth. [Image source: onrpg.net]
CoD: Modern Warfare 3 not moving, Mario Kart 7 debuts strong on UK chart
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with a slight sales gain of 2 percent, remains king of the hill for a fourth week in a row on Chart-Track's UK sales chart. Stalwart chart champion FIFA 12 pushed past Assassin's Creed: Revelations into second, but remained 55,000 units behind Modern Warfare 3. The big mover and shaker last week was Just Dance 3, up 54 percent, electric-sliding from eighth into fourth. Skyrim and Saints Row: The Third couldn't help but shout and inspire mayhem regarding this situation while sitting in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Mario Kart 7 was the only top 40 debut on the charts last week, driving up to an eighth place finish. Mamma mia! Here we go again. There were two titles that entered the top 40 in their second week. ABBA: You Can Dance (part of the Just Dance franchise) saw a 252 percent jump in sales into 30th place. Zumba Fitness 2, the sister succubi of a formerly unstoppable chart demon, is up 97 percent and creeps into the 34th spot. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
MW3 avatar sales on Xbox Marketplace benefit Call of Duty Endowment
From Dec. 2 to Dec. 16, sales of all Modern Warfare 3 avatars from the Xbox Marketplace will benefit real-world soldiers returning from war via Activision's Call of Duty Endowment. Proceeds from avatar sales will go directly to help veterans transition from service to civilian life through the Endowment. Activision has released two new MW3 avatars for the event, the Special Ops Juggernaut and American Special Forces. Check out the online avatars that can help troops IRL on the Xbox Marketplace.
Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops dominate last week's Xbox Live activity
We had a hunch -- okay, it was less a hunch and more an obvious thing to think, but here we are: Modern Warfare 3 has dominated Xbox Live activity on the week of November 21. When not chowing down on turkey and karate-chopping fools at Walmart over waffle makers, it seems most Xbox 360 players answered the call. The second most-played game for the week was another Call of Duty game: Black Ops. It bested Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12, which took the remainder of the top five games played respectively. On the XBLA side, Pinball FX2, Super Meat Boy and Marvel vs Capcom 2 took top honors, thanks to Microsoft's "Fan Appreciation" sale.
Call of Duty Elite trailer gives us the rundown
Now that Elite is up and running, Activision has seen fit to remind us of what the exact perks are for signing up for Call of Duty Elite with the above trailer. It's also got tons of sweeping shots of dudes holding guns, if that's more your thing.
