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The Man Who Wants to Re-Invent Toys Before Video Games Destroy Them
A few years ago, Paul Reiche and his team of game developers in Northern California were given a purple dragon and asked to make something cool with it. They were being asked to make a new game about Spyro the Dragon, an old PlayStation favorite created by a different group of California developers who had…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 7, 2011 -
A History of Battlefield Versus Call of Duty
Battlefield 3 hit stores late last month, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hits tomorrow. The two series, delivering different takes on first-person shooter warfare, both have a storied history. This mammoth graph charts the history of both series, their games, the sales, the review scores. Which is series is better? That’s really about personal…
By Brian Crecente Published November 7, 2011 -
Call of Duty Elite is Now Open for Business
Unless you’re one of the several thousand people playing early, you’ll be waiting until midnight to get your hands on Modern Warfare 3, but Activision’s Call of Duty Elite service is now rolling out, ready to keep you occupied until then.
By Mike Fahey Published November 7, 2011 -
A Video Game Company Wants to Turn Virtual War Into Our Next National Pastime
Baseball, hockey, football… Call of Duty? If the people behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 have their way, the next big sport people around the world will be obsessing over will involve virtual soldiers killing each other in perpetual warfare. With more than 25 million copies of their last Call of Duty game sold,…
By Brian Crecente Published November 7, 2011 -
Report: Masked Bandits Steal 6000 Copies of Modern Warfare 3
As if we needed reminding of how big a commercial event the release of a new Call of Duty game is, word comes from France that a truck full of copies of the game has been hijacked by professional thieves. On Saturday the truck, driving through Créteil in southern Paris, was rammed by another vehicle.…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
This is When Activision Used to be Awesome
It’s fashionable these days to hate Activision. But those over the age of, say, 30-35 may be old enough to remember the time the company went above and beyond the call of duty to keep its fans happy with all kinds of touching gestures. The coolest of which, by far, was the company’s practice of…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2011 -
Full-Length Jonah Hill Modern Warfare 3 Ad has a Special Guest Star at the End
The 30-second version of “The Vet & The Noob” started playing last night on GameTrailers. Here now is the 90-second version of the ad, starring Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill (whose most recent flick, Moneyball featured a cameo by Activision top dog Bobby Kotick.) Keep your eyes peeled until the end, when a guy who’s…
By Owen Good Published November 5, 2011 -
Jonah Hill, Sam Worthington Star in This Live Action Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Ad
The official live-action trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn’t supposed to hit until Sunday. But it’s started popping up on website ads late Friday night so we grabbed a copy. In it we see Jonah Hill of Superbad fame and is that Sam Worthington of Avatar fame kicking ass as video game…
By Brian Crecente Published November 4, 2011 -
There’s a Free Prototype 2 Minigame on iTunes Right Now
Activision commissioned TwitchGames, makers of Slice HD, to create a Prototype 2-themed minigame available now for iOS devices on the iTunes App Store. It’s a big free ad for the upcoming game, but it’s also a small free game that utilizes the multitouch interface in a challenging way. Like Slice HD, your job is to…
By Owen Good Published November 4, 2011 -
Activision Cools Fears of Pre-Release Modern Warfare 3 Bannings
A foreboding, backchannel warning from Xbox Live’s top cop seemed to suggest that those who legitimately bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 from a retailer, before its official street date on Tuesday, could face sanctions if they played it online. Activision has sought to calm those concerns, although still, it kinda sorta would like…
By Owen Good Published November 4, 2011 -
Modern Warfare 3 Now Available for Purchase and Pre-Load on Amazon
Amazon’s digital download service is serving up fresh copies of Modern Warfare 3 standard edition to all comers today, allowing players to purchase and pre-load for play at launch, with a $10 digital download coupon to sweeten the deal. [Amazon]
By Mike Fahey Published November 4, 2011 -
Is This Spoiler Modern Warfare 3‘s “No Russian” Moment?
This post has a spoiler in it. If you want a tiny part of Modern Warfare 3, which officially hits Nov. 8, spoiled, read on. If you don’t, this is a post (and comments section) you should skip. Okay? We all here? Let’s dive in. The above clip was sent to Kotaku, with the tipster…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 4, 2011 -
This is How Modern Warfare 3 Will Bring Everyone Together
The Call of Duty series has traditionally been about shooting your enemies apart online, but with the strong social features of Call of Duty Elite and Facebook integrated with Modern Warfare 3 the latest game in the series is more about bringing gamers together. And then killing them. I’m not a big multiplayer shooter person.…
By Mike Fahey Published November 3, 2011 -
Two Year Old Call of Duty More Popular Than Battlefield 3 on Xbox Live Last Week
Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops and 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 both remained the most played video games on Xbox Live the week Battlefield 3 hit stores, according to Microsoft stats. It’s worth noting that Battlefield 3 wasn’t released until Tuesday, Oct. 25 and that these numbers include Monday’s players. So…
By Brian Crecente Published November 3, 2011 -
How to Buy a Copy of Modern Warfare 3 Today
Last night we posted an image of a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that a reader had purchased in a Tampa, Florida Kmart. Then it started popping up on eBay and Craigslist. Then videos from the game starting popping up. How was everyone getting copies of a game that wasn’t supposed to…
By Brian Crecente Published November 3, 2011 -
Should You Buy GoldenEye 007: Reloaded? Yes.
They’ve made yet another game called GoldenEye again, which should have the smart shopper wonder what the deal is. Is James Bond’s fourth game called GoldenEye worth getting, let alone worth the name of the first great game to bear that name? Stephen Totilo, who had the Nintendo 64 original just about bolted into his…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 1, 2011 -
Activision Uninvites Celebrity from Modern Warfare 3 Party After Learning She’s a Porn Star
Dutch porn star Kim Holland was invited and then quickly uninvited from a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 VIP party in Amsterdam later this month after the game’s publisher discovered what she did for a living, Eigenwereld reports. The last-minute uninvitation has Holland questioning Activision’s seemingly hypocritical take on sex versus violence. Holland, an…
By Brian Crecente Published November 1, 2011 -
Are These Modern Warfare 3‘s Multiplayer Maps?
Several outlets this morning have posted what appears to be the layouts of the 16 multiplayer maps for Modern Warfare 3, giving fans a glimpse at their size, exploits, bottlenecks and what have you. The images have been attributed to this user on the site The Tech Game. The images’ provenance is unknown, though German…
By Owen Good Published October 29, 2011 -
Looks Like Somebody has a PS3 Copy of Modern Warfare 3 a Little Early
It’s not just pirated, downloaded PC versions of Modern Warfare 3 that are turning up ahead of the game’s November 8 release. Seemingly legitimate retail copies are now in people’s hands as well. Sure, there’s the chance the above video is a fake, but if it is, it’s a damn good one. There’s just a…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 28, 2011 -
Report: Modern Warfare 3 Stolen From Shipping Company, Pirated
Look, video games turning up on torrent sites around the days of their release is a given. Happens with almost every game published these days. But no game is bigger in 2011 (at least in terms of sales) than Modern Warfare 3, and the tale of how it’s been lifted and pirated is an interesting…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 28, 2011