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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!]
First Modern Warfare 2 map pack coming to Xbox Live on March 30
Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling has pointed us toward a new self-help website filled with good news: new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 mutliplayer maps are coming to Xbox Live on March 30. While the powers that be at Activision might have ousted the creators of the game, they haven't affected the delivery of eagerly awaited new maps. People afflicted with "mapathy," your cure is on the way. PS3 players ... well, you'll have to suffer a bit longer. Have you spoken to your FAMAS-ist about a prescription? [Thanks Legion!]
Modern Warfare 2 enlists 25 million unique players, Bowling says
It's not so surprising, really, that Modern Warfare 2, arguably the world's most popular video game, would recruit such a staggering amount of bodies for its perpetual online war. But, there it is: 25 million unique players, as revealed in a tweet from Infinity Ward's community guy-at-large, Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling. We've contacted Infinity Ward for specific platform numbers, but in the meantime, Bowling offers a bit more to chew on: He confirms the majority of players are taking the fight to Xbox Live, but he says the PS3 comes in at "a close" second. That puts the PC space in third, though it's still enlisted "millions," according to Bowling. But, what about that boycott? Oh, right. Now, it should be noted that Modern Warfare 2's reported 25 million players aren't necessarily all on active duty. Surely, more than a few steadfast soldiers have taken up positions in DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company 2. No rest for the weary, eh?
Rumor: Modern Warfare 2 DLC 'Stimulus Package' screens
[Source: The Tech Game -- in case you couldn't already tell.] With a pair of Modern Warfare 2 DLC packs set to deploy on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this year, talk around the DMZ has everybody wondering what new stomping grounds will get added. Well, according to The Tech Game, the first pack (due this spring) will be titled "Stimulus Package" and includes five new locales - three brand new and two returning from Call of Duty 4 (Crash and Overgrown). The images and accompanying video (the latter posted past the break) look legitimate enough, though we've sent word to Activision for confirmation. We doubt we'll hear back, considering the company has a lot on its plate right now, but don't say we didn't try!
Activision 'disappointed' by Zampella and West's lawsuit, calls it 'meritless'
Activision has issued a response to the lawsuit filed by former Infinity Ward bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West, dismissing the claims in the lawsuit as "meritless" and expressing the company's "disappointment" in the decision to file suit. Activision notes in the statement that it provided the capital required to start Infinity Ward, and the continued financial and creative support given over the development of the Call of Duty franchise, and that the two execs failed to "honor their obligations to Activision," justifying their dismissal. With the mentions of the company's "enormous patience" and its eventual "disappointment," the full statement (which you can read after the break) sounds oddly parental. The release concludes with a note that Activision owns the Call of Duty franchise -- though the title Modern Warfare isn't mentioned.
Ousted Infinity Ward founders file suit against Activision
Former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West are bringing a lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract and other claims, after Activision terminated their employment on March 1. The press release announcing the suit claims that Activision was scheduled to pay "substantial royalty payments," but fired them before the date of the payment. "Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public," attorney Robert Schwartz said, "last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st." In addition to compensation, the suit seeks to return the contractual rights Zampella and West previously had to the Modern Warfare brand. [Thanks Amnon!]
Alleged Activision memo: Infinity Ward remains central to Call of Duty's future
We've never been great counters, but we'd say there are three studios working on major Call of Duty games now. A recent internal memo (as reported by G4) apparently confirms that Infinity Ward -- despite all of the recent stuff going down there -- will remain "central" to the franchise. So, counting that studio and Treyarch, along with Sledgehammer Games and its own Call of Duty title, that's ... four three! The Count would be so proud of us! This internal memo reportedly comes from CEO of Activision Publishing Mike Griffith, who said, "Infinity Ward remains central to Call of Duty's future" and that Activision would continue to "rely on the combined talent, expertise and leadership of the team there for [Call of Duty's] success."
Activision ousts Infinity Ward studio heads [update]
G4's The Feed, which has been in communication with a source at Infinity Ward, reports that organizational changes may be in effect at the FPS developer's offices. The source claims that a "bunch of 'bouncer-types' just showed up outside of the Infinity Ward offices unannounced. When approached by employees, the non-uniformed 'bouncers' were unwilling to disclose why they were there." In addition, The Feed notes that Infinity Ward's studio heads, Vince Zampella and Jason West, were not seen by fellow staff members after a meeting with Activision on Monday morning. A desk guard at Infinity Ward's offices was unable to confirm any of the events to Joystiq, and calls to community manager Robert Bowling went unanswered at the time of writing. Apparently, on Monday Activision filed a Form 10-K with the SEC, which is basically an overview of the company's financial condition, and includes any information that could possibly affect that condition. This filing states, "In November 2009, the Company released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a game developed by one of the Company's wholly-owned studios, Infinity Ward. As noted above, Modern Warfare 2 was the best selling console title in the U.S. and Europe in 2009. Consistent with past practice, the Company intends to release a Call of Duty game in 2010 developed by another wholly-owned studio. The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward. This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation. At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company." Co-studio head Jason West has reportedly changed both his Facebook status and LinkedIn page to indicate that he is no longer employed. As soon as we get more news, we'll pass it along. Update: Activision has confirmed the departures of Vince Zampella and Jason West. Read here for more details. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Modern Warfare 2 'care package' patch submitted to Microsoft certification
Considering the Xbox 360 received the lion's share of Modern Warfare 2 purchases, it comes as a bit of a shock to us that the already released on PS3 and PC "care package patch" is just now being submitted to Microsoft for certification. That said, developer Infinity Ward's community man Robert Bowling tweeted as much to Game Informer's Andrew Reiner approximately 24 hours ago when Reiner asked about a possible release for the much anticipated fixes. As Bowling has pointed out before (and details in this forum post on the subject), the patch is set to remedy the following (you might need a pillow for all of this pure, unbridled excitement: Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, and Sentry Gun marker grenades sprint speed normalized. Fix for "infinite care package" exploit. Sentry Guns: Improved placement detection, preventing cases of Sentry Guns inside geometry. Model 1887: Bling using Akimbo and FMJ combination now has same range and damage as non-Bling Model 1887s. Fixes to prevent various XP hacks. And no, there's no date given for when it's coming out. So stop asking. (Seriously.) %Gallery-77537%[Via Game Informer]
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.
Modern Warfare 2 soundtrack in the works, Zimmer says
Sure, Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer mode has already sucked you in, but just imagine what would happen if you added an invigorating soundtrack to all those bullet-soaked moments? Well, guess what: The game's soundtrack composer, Hans Zimmer, recently indicated in a Facebook note that the "soundtrack album is in the works." That's right -- soon you'll be able to take the orchestrated drama from the single-player campaign and import it into a looping death march beat. But hey, at least your folks will be glad you're listening to classical music, right? [Via GamePro; image credit: quintanomedia]
Best of the Rest: Andrew's Picks of 2009
Flower This year had a number of terrific downloadable games (this list is a testament to that), however no game -- retail or digital -- connected with me like Flower. Jenova Chen's flOw was an interesting experiment, but Flower is an actual game. In fact, Flower is one of the few experiences I can think of that show the true potential of games as a unique storytelling medium. No other non-interactive art form will ever be able to replicate what thatgamecompany has managed to create.
Modern Warfare 2 patched on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
For the last week or so, the Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer experience has been plagued by a number of issues, across all platforms. Those issues have been targeted by a new patch, which Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling states has gone live on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Among the issues addressed are those nasty infinity ammo and Public "private" match issues on the Xbox 360 version, the Prestige hack on PS3 and the texture hack on PC. Also, the 1887 has been balanced on all platforms -- now, you might actually stand a chance against an opponent wielding two of those. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Modern Warfare 2 patch available now, Javelin glitch tossed out
Huzzah! No more of your intense Headquarters Pro matches will be interrupted by gargantuan, killer shockwaves expelled by morally dubious combatants. That is to say, Modern Warfare 2's Javelin glitch, which enabled a dirty, cheating player to instantly detonate upon death, was fixed earlier this morning by a patch for the Xbox 360 version of the game. According to a recent tweet from Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, the PS3 version of the game has already received the patch. In addition to removing the Javelin's unadvertised self-immolation feature, the patch also fixes the equally insidious "unlimited care packages" glitch, and fixes a few areas where players could exploit gaps in the game's geography. In a perfect world, Infinity Ward would have also sent parcels to the houses of anyone who leveraged these exploits -- parcels full of bees. The bad kind. The kind you see on the Discovery Channel. The ones that can kill a full-grown elephant with a surprisingly small swarm.
TIME declares Modern Warfare 2 top game of 2009
Opening its rationalization with the arguable statement that Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 has "something intelligent to say about contemporary military conflicts," Time Magazine's "Top 10 Games" of 2009 list recently declared the title its "Game of the Year." MW2 was closely followed by Batman: Arkham Asylum and DJ Hero, while the recent Uncharted 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 landed on the bottom of the list. The seemingly annual Flash/iPhone game choice this year turned out to be Geo Defense Swarm, while Link's latest adventure sat out the ubiquitous DS spot -- a spot filled by Scribblenauts, it would seem. As always, Joystiq will have our own Game of the Year awards going live just after the new year, so be sure to keep it locked!
8 million played Modern Warfare 2 in its first week
There's not really much more to say, is there? Publisher Activision notes that the 8 million folks dabbled in Modern Warfare 2 during its first week of release, which outnumbers basically every major organized army on the planet, Activision gloats. Obviously, the publisher forgot to factor in Antarctica's Grand Army of the Penguins' Republic, currently numbering in the tens of millions but, in the interest of celebration, we're willing to overlook this oversight. On a side note, this is good news for Electronic Arts, because there's obviously a market for these newfangled war games.
Google Zeitgeist 2009 shows year's top game searches
We would never call you out on your love for whatever crappy thing it is that you love but, guys, you're using Google wrong. Its recent Zeitgeist 2009 report shows what the most popular gaming term searches of this year have been and the results are pretty surprising.At the top spot is Ghostbusters, which is fine by us -- it was a pretty big deal when it was announced and it sold a lot of copies, so naturally folks were interested. But, as we delve deeper into the top 10, the search terms become a bit more interesting. The next three terms -- "ufc" "saw" and "bakugan" -- really threw us for a loop. Saw? Really? Bakugan? What is that, a gun that uses evil Japanese spirits for ammo? Actually, that sounds pretty cool.Further into the list, we see that Batman: Arkham Asylum managed to put a batarang in the fifth spot, much lower than we'd like, but we can live with that -- however, coming in at the sixth spot is Twilight. Guys! Vampires. Do. Not. Sparkle. Seventh was FIFA 2010, followed by Modern Warfare in eighth. The ninth spot belonged to Transformers 2, which we must admit has one of this year's best performances by a human male, so that seems okay. Finally, Resident Evil 5 rounded out the list in last place.
GAME and Activision UK team up for Modern Warfare 2 charity event next weekend
War Child International is a coalition of organizations that seeks to aid children affected by war. Activision UK and GAME have decided to pitch in and are joining up to host an online event next weekend in Modern Warfare 2, asking that UK citizens play a bit of the game on Xbox Live. The more people enlist for action online, the more Activision UK will donate to the charity. If you're looking for more information on the event, there's a Facebook page and a Twitter account set up to help coordinate. If you've got a busy weekend ahead of you on December 4, try to make time for at least one online match. It's not every day you can make someone else's life better just by playing a video game.
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.
Infinity Ward talking about spin-off game starring Modern Warfare 2's 'Ghost'
Though Modern Warfare 2 is rife with instantly accessible, beloved characters with fascinating names, we all know that one stands out as the franchise's most memorable protagonist: Ghost. You know, Ghost! He's got that skull mask, and there was that one scene where that guy's about to shoot you, and then Ghost shoots him right back. He's already risen to fame somewhat when he received a six-part comic series telling his story -- but if the actor who provides the spectral hero's voice is to be believed, he might just show up in his own video game as well. Craig Fairbrass, who not only did the voice for Ghost in MW2, but also voiced the equally unfortunately named Gaz in the original Modern Warfare, mentioned, "I'm now voicing a guy called Ghost, who now just got a spin-off comic of his own and they're talking about another little game to go with it." Little game? Based on the number of Michael Bay-esque explosions in the first five minutes of Modern Warfare 2, we're not sure Infinity Ward is capable of making those.
