Why not hark back to the days of the first Call of Duty? It's finally available for the PlayStation 3, so put down that shiny new Modern Warfare 2. PixelJunk Shooter is also on the shelf, along with some price snipped Killzone 2 DLC. Fairytale Fights lands a demo, but not in Germany.
Some more alleged details have emerged for Treyarch's winter Call of Duty entry, the one set in Vietnam. It'll flesh out your squad a lot with story. It will also, according to "reliable sources", feature heavy influences from movies like 'Platoon', 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Full Metal Jacket'.
Major Nelson has given us some Top 10s for Xbox Live, revealing that Bungie's Halo 3 was the most played over the Live service last year. Grand Theft Auto IV was King of Games for Windows Live, followed by Dawn of War II. Top arcaders? Battlefield 1943 and Castle Crashers.
Activision Blizzard announced today that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues its reign of record breaking having hit the $1 billion mark in retails sales worldwide. "Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 has exceeded our expectations and shattered theatrical box office and video game records," said Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "There are only a handful of entertainment properties that have ever reached the $1 billion mark, which illustrates the power of the Call of Duty franchise and mass appeal of this game."
Publisher Ubisoft admire what rival Activision has pulled off with the Call of Duty franchise, and now they plan to do the same with their IP. As long as you can "create something innovative" annually, that can surprise and "please your gamers," a new title every 12-18 months is fine.
Activision has announced new plans for the Call of Duty franchise, with Sledgehammer Games working on extending the franchise into the action-adventure genre. There's also a new game expected in 2011, but there's no word on the studio developing it. We think it'll be Infinity Ward though, because Activision is citing Infinity Ward as "central to Call of Duty's future". The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same strategy used by Blizzard Entertainment. This means that we'll see more focus on high-margin digital online content and see the series in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models.
Treyarch has indirectly revealed custom killstreaks for Call of Duty 7, long rumoured to be Vietnam-based, as dev posts are pieced together. One fan site has been combing David Vonderhaar's forum contributions, extracting valuable hints on what Treyarch has in mind for multiplayer.
For such a long time Treyarch's new Call of Duty has been linked with a Vietnam war setting, and soon all should be put to rest - hopefully. The May issue of OPM UK magazine has Call of Duty 7 secrets galore, reveals a teaser from the latest copies. Is it ready for October?
Activision has heaped praise on Sledgehammer Games, not an actual sledgehammer (although...), saying the team will "broaden" the base. Right now they have 3 studios working on Call of Duty games; Infinity Ward, Treyarch and now Sledgehammer Games. It's an "innovative take".
So this is what they mean by 'too much of a good thing'. It seems Activision blogger Dan Amrich has confirmed that the publishing powerhouse plans to release three Call of Duty titles in the next two years...
Geoff Keighley from GameTrailers TV has announced that this Friday's episode will "feature the world premiere" of the next Call of Duty from Treyarch. The entire planet believes it's set in Vietnam. Also in the GTTV piece will be interviews with 'game movie' stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Milla Jovovich.
It's official then I guess - Treyarch's next Call of Duty title will be named 'Black Ops'. The official website went live today with the name, although there's not much else to see at the moment.
If you thought Activision was going to be more reasonable in their recommended retail price for Treyarch's latest Call of Duty, you'd be really wrong. Call of Duty: Black Ops is RRP'ed at GBP 54.99/$59.99, with UK retailer GAME lobbing off just GBP 10 for console versions. Damn that 60's Vietnam war.
Publishing giant Activision has slapped their name on some more Call of Duty domain names, with Advanced, Secret and Space in them. Another is Future, which is exactly what Acti appears to be securing for the franchise. Each are registered multiple times to really nab the names.
It's no secret that Activision wants more from the Call of Duty franchise, especially after the success of Modern Warfare 2 and its map pack gold. Apparently they've sacrificed Raven Software's James Bond game to get more content lined up for Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops - map packs!
There'll be three new maps and another two that are remakes, in the upcoming Resurgence DLC map packs for Modern Warfare 2. They hit Xbox Live first on June 3rd for 1200 MSP, like the first map pack. The names are Carnival, Trailer Park, Fuel, Vacant and Strike.
Activision's Sledgehammer Games is looking for new developers to join the studio to work on a first-person shooter in the Call of Duty franchise. A slew of job ads have gone up looking to swell their ranks in Foster City, California. Recently a number of trademarks went for Call of Duty.
Call of Duty: Black Ops developer Treyarch admits the situation over at fellow Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward is far less than an ideal one. Their exodus isn't something they "think about too much" over at Treyarch though, says Josh Olin; keeping "heads down and staying focused."
Studio boss Mark Lamia of Treyarch remarks how they're fully Call of Duty, "long before" those Infinity Ward troubles flared up. It's all they do now. This has led to a "dedicated multiplayer team" being formed at Treyarch, to help shape the online experience across all their Call of Duty releases.
It's official pronounces Elite creator David Braben, that the Infinity Ward we grew to love for Call of Duty "is dead." it's set to be "different" from now on. Braben blasts Acti for appearing "not to value" their own teams, or understanding 'what they care about'. Studios "a lot more" than just tools and tech.