"I, being a Pakistani, was so excited at seeing a Karachi map and then immediately so disappointed when I played the map," says the Karachi resident. The map has Arabic written all over, even though that isn't the country's language.

The country of Pakistan has two official lingos: English and Urdu. With somewhere between 60 and 80 million speakers of the standard language, Urdu has more speakers than, say, Italian, Korean or Polish.

"Infinity Ward probably thought, 'Oh hey its a Muslim country so Arabic is the language,'" says Saad.

While Arabic and Urdu use the same script, the words are completely different. For example, the noun "people" is "al-naas" in Arabic (الناس), and "log" or "loug" (لوگ) in Urdu.

"To someone who doesn't know urdu won't be able to tell the difference," Saad explains. "It's like Spanish and English, I guess. Some letters are same, some are different but the words are completely different."

There isn't a single Urdu word on the entire Karachi map and no one writes in Arabic in Pakistan.

The patch is live on U.S. servers, so if you live there, download. If it's live elsewhere, you can download it as well. So there you go.

Thanks to all who sent this in!

IW's Robert Bowling updated the Modern Warfare 2 masses on the developer's current plans to fix some nagging problems. He writes, "Update in Test now: 1887s Balanced. Public "private" Match fix. Infinite Ammo fix. Prestige Hack on PS3 fix. Texture Hack on PC fix."

Looks like we can expect few double shotgun wielders in our future and less in the way of grenade spam. When all those updates will go live and onto your platform of choice isn't always Infinity Ward's call. But keep an eye peeled! I mean, stay frosty!

In MW2's multiplayer, the fastest way to differentiate friend from foe is if their name is green (teammate) or red (enemy). These colors also are used to to distinguish combatants on the game's radar. Colorblind gamers are asking for the ability to change friend/foe colorations so they can game without confusion.

The petition points out that Call of Duty: World at War had the option of changing enemy/friendlies from red/green to orange/blue. "The Ghost Recon games have also had a similar feature. With this being such a huge release, this option should come as standard, especially when almost 10 percent of people are affected by colour-blindness in some form."

I realize that when fewer than one in 10 men deal with this kind of vision (and half of one percent of women) we're absolutely talking about optimizing for a minority. The game is built, it's selling like nuts, updates cost money, and I'd be astonished if Infinity Ward rolled a patch for an affected population this small. And honestly, you grow up colorblind, you learn workarounds for the condition (on the traffic signal, top means stop, low means go.)

But, to future devs, red and green are the most commonly transposed colors in colorblindness. Pick a different pair, and you won't have us colorblind tugging on your pants leg with these kinds of frivolous-sounding demands.

For those curious, in that image the colorblind are supposed to see a number 17. Everyone else should see a number 15. I can't see shit.

MW2 Patch for Color Blind Gamers Urged [Game Politics]

Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling - who it appears is now paid to spend the rest of his days answering angry twitter messages - has said "there may be some Mod Tools news coming in the future, I'll pass it along once I have it".

"May" and "future" aren't the most promising of words, but as a signal of intent, it's admirable. Doubt it'll do much to appease the developer's former fans, however. As my grandfather used to say, "no point shutting the gate once the horse has bolted".

[fourzerotwo]

"You're playing a CIA agent, it's designed to show the atrocities," Turner told CVG in an interview, "It's pretty awful and if you fail to see that side of it than you're not getting the whole picture. That being said, I thought it took it a little far; it was pretty out there. But I like seeing that they have guts like that."

Turner did say the mission's scenes, shown in advance of the game's release, were taken out of context. "When the footage got leaked thousands upon thousands of people saw it on a clip not knowing what it was," he said to CVG. "I'm not saying they were overreacting but people were generating these pretty outlandish opinions even though they didn't know what the scene meant in the grand scheme of the game."

Interview: Army of Two: 40th Day [CVG via Gamers Reports]

The First Annual Inside Gaming Awards was held December 11 in Los Angeles to "specifically appeal to the vast community of global gamers and was established to provide an alternative look at the recent year in gaming."

This means that Modern Warfare 2 got the Game of the Year slot instead of Uncharted 2, and in total developer Infinity Ward walked away with six statuettes.

Here's a list of the IG winners (not to be confused with IGA — the Indie Game Awards held at the Game Developers Conference). For fun, compare the alternative winners circle to the VGA winners. Notice anything?

Game of the Year
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Trailer
Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)

Best Multiplayer
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Narrative
Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)

Best Art Direction
Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros., Rocksteady Studios)

Best Animation
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros., Rocksteady Studios)

Best Game Cinematography
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Replayability
Modern Warefare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Indie Game
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT!!!1 (Ska Studios)

Most Compelling Character
The Joker – Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros., Rocksteady Studios)

Best DLC (best content pack/expansion content)
Fallout 3 – Expansions (Bethesda Game Studios)

Best Downloadable Game (games only available digitally for purchase or free download)
Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap)

Most Original Game
Scribblenauts (Warner Bros, 5th Cell)

Best Control
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Game Innovation
1 vs. 100 - Massively Multiplayer Online game show with real prizes (Microsoft)

Best Original Score
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Weapon
AC - 130 - Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Sound Design
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

According to a new report from Gamasutra on last month's NPD figures, the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 moved "nearly 170,000" copies at retail. That doesn't include figures for Steam, Valve's digital distribution system, which are likely to have been significant—today, over 100,000 Steam users were playing the game online at the same time, but we're not sure how that breaks down to retail and online sales.

Still, at least 170,000 copies to a group of gamers that balked at the lack of dedicated servers and a higher-than normal price tag is.... pretty good?

Regardless of Modern Warfare 2's success or failures on the PC side of things, Gamasutra's in-depth look at November's NPD estimates are good reading for the sales obsessed gamer.

NPD: Behind the Numbers, November 2009 [Gamasutra]

In a country traditionally dominated by role-playing-game, this American first-person-shooter actually is posting reasonably healthy first day sales — that is, for a Western FPS in Japan.

Early data has the Xbox 360 version of MW2 selling 42,000 copies while the PS3 version apparently sold 64,000 copies for a grand total of 106,000 copies of Modern Warfare 2 in Japan. That is low compared to what it did in the West, but extremely high for Japan. Generally speaking, Western games just do not sell 100,000 in Japan on their first day. Baby steps, folks, baby steps!

Other things to keep in mind: Some players have already bought the imported versions and others have been complaining about the localization job MW2 Japanese publisher Square Enix did.

In a recent interview, Square Enix president said that "youge-", the term used to separate Japanese games from foreign titles, has had a "terribly discriminatory meaning" in Japan.

If these numbers are correct, not bad Modern Warfare 2, not bad at all. Could this mean the Japanese gamer demographic is *gasp* changing?

Wii「テイルズ オブ グレイセス」初日で11万本を販売、他 [忍之閻魔帳]

In the section "No Russian", the player is told, "Remember, no Russian." Here, this means "Do not speak Russian," a plot point for this scene. However, in the Japanese version, this is localized as "Kill 'em, the Russians." Players, it seems, will not be able to kill anyone in this scene. Actually, that's not entirely true.

If players do shoot civilians in the Japanese version, it will automatically be "game over". It is possible to kill civilians in this mission in the Western version of MW2. This holds true for the game's bonus content as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has also been similarly censored in Germany.

According to MW 2's Japanese publisher Square Enix, the game does not have an English language track. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 goes on sale in Japan tomorrow.

Thanks Lenny for the tip!

IW's Robert Bowling says that the 1.06 upgrade, which fixes not only the javelin glitch but also the care package glitch as well, is currently in Microsoft's hands, awaiting final certification.

So it shouldn't be too far away!

[fourzerotwo @ Twitter]

Robert Bowling, the Infinity Ward community manager, tweeted that 1.05 fixed some matchmaking issues. Update 1.06 is "still coming down the pipeline," he says. It'll clean up the Javelin exploit, and also fix areas where players could get stuck in world geometry, such as on the rocks Afghanistan.

My guess is 1.06 will be delivered ASAP but there's no word on when that'll be, specifically.

Robert Bowling on Twitter

Said Stephen Toulouse (Stepto) over Twitter earlier today:

While IW works on getting the MW2 glitch fixed, people we catch using it will recieve suspensions from LIVE. Play fair everyone. :>

Stepto clarified that bannings for this sort of terms of use violation typically are 24 hours, but can go up to two weeks if they're particularly egregious.

For those not familiar with the glitch, which can be used on PS3 and PC as well as the 360, it enables someone carrying a rocket launcher to turn into a sprinting human bomb. While the player dies in the process, it's still a cheap way to get kills, including triples and quads. And an easy way to get yourself reported, cussed out, etc. You can watch this for more information but, remember, trying it subjects you to a day without multiplayer. Which is like a day without sunshine. Or something.

Stephen Toulouse on Twitter [Twitter]

Dubbed FROST ROAD, the film will be produced by Cary Brokaw's Avenue Pictures (CLOSER, ANGELS IN AMERICA) will produce with Steven L'Heureux's Solipsist Films, in association with Arem's own PCB Productions.

Arem penned the script, and FROST ROAD is also in development as a graphic novel. Here's a plot summary:

FROST ROAD concerns a small coastal Eastern town which is suddenly and inexplicably devastated by an invisible contagion. A young man awakens from a car accident to discover he is one of few survivors in the aftermath of a mysterious outbreak. Somehow immune, he tries to save the remaining survivors from themselves, as he desperately struggles to prevent the deadly wave from spreading across the entire planet.

It's evident that Arem can construct exciting set pieces, but can he tell a story?

"I'm extremely excited about this story," said Arem about FROST ROAD, "and thrilled to have the opportunity to bring the skills I've honed in the game industry to the big screen. There's an incredible talent pool currently working in the game industry, and I hope that the success of FROST ROAD will give other creators the chance to show what they can do on a wider canvas."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Director To Make Feature Film Debut [Slash Film] [Pic]

European Xbox Community Manager Graeme "AceyBongos" Boyd says that the remake of the original Call of Duty will set Xbox 360 gamers back 1200 Microsoft Points. Interested gamers should first check to see if they purchased the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2, as a download code should have been included in their copy of the deluxe package.

Keep an eye peeled for confirmation on non-European lands so that you too can enjoy a dozen Call of Duty Classic Achievements.

He says around 2500 Steam accounts were targeted. That's a lot of cheaters for a game being played on controlled servers over Steam.

Then again, it's a proportionate number; 2500 may sound like a lot, but for a game as big as Modern Warfare 2, it's probably a small percentage of the overall market.

[fourzerotwo @ Twitter]

But, uh, when is it coming out?

Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has said "DLC is planned fir the wonderfully vauge timeframe of Spring.". Drop a (sic) in there wherever you see fit.

So, Spring! Not too long to wait. You've only got to ride out the rest of Fall. Then all of Winter (antipodeans, reverse that). Then you'll get your hands on it.

[fourzerotwo @ Twitter]

That means don't press play if you don't want all the story highlights, plot twists, outcomes and the conclusion. Otherwise spend a minute on this and then get back to your Search & Destroy and your perks grindin'.

Modern Warfare 2 in 60 Seconds [YouTube]

"The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 has actually outsold the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in it's first week", IW's Robert Bowling posted on the company's message boards. "Making it the most successful PC version."

The quote was made in response to claims that the PC version of the game accounts for only 3% of MW2's total sales in the UK, Bowling adding "Essentially, all this percentage proves is that the console versions sold great, not that the PC version sold poorly".

3% of overall sales [Infinity Ward]