As if winning eighteen thousand gold medals at the Beijing Olympics wasn't enough, swimmer Michael Phelps got a further reward for his awesomeness on last Thursday's CBS Early Show -- an early copy of Call of Duty: World at War provided by publisher Activision. But all was not as it seemed. As developer Treyarch revealed on its blog, the box Phelps was handed on live TV actually contained an I.O.U. card for the final version of the game, which is still in production. It's not all smoke and mirrors, though -- Phelps has been promised "the first disc off the production line ... later this year." We suppose that's understandable. Michael Phelps may be amazing, but it seems even he can't change the laws of time and space (or can he?) (no he can't).
Check out a video of the "giveaway" after the break (jump to 3:28 for the moment of falsehood).
[Via MTV Multiplayer]
Reader Comments (52)
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 8:37PM Haggard said
I did wonder why it was being held back till November if it was gold and ready to go.
I mean, if they had the full version ready to give Phelps; surely they'd go for a September release to avoid the heavy hitting releases.
But I guess this article answers that question.
Reply
I mean, if they had the full version ready to give Phelps; surely they'd go for a September release to avoid the heavy hitting releases.
But I guess this article answers that question.
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 11:00PM Lone Starr said
Um...it's over 9000?
*gets beaten by an angry crowd*
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*gets beaten by an angry crowd*
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 8:41PM F1 Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu said
On a side note Burger King made a huge profit right after the interview.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 8:40PM F1 Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu said
Michael Phelps may not be able to, but my sources say Chuck Norris was present at the finales. I wonder...
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Posted: Sep 2nd 2008 12:12AM BananaBoat said
Immediately after receiving the box, Michael Phelps could be seen sprinting to his dressing room. After finding the IOU, Michael Phelps was seen to have Dolphin kicked so hard that a new hurricane formed in the Atlantic ocean.
More on this story at the hour.
Reply
More on this story at the hour.
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 8:44PM (Unverified) said
Phelps is too busy swimming and eating 40 whole pizzas a day.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 8:45PM (Unverified) said
just when Treyarch thought it was safe to go back in the water
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 8:55PM LAZoftheTamarinds said
You gotta wonder huh. I mean that is a COD WAW PS3 version box.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 10:32PM (Unverified) said
nice ... Dude must play PS3 tho ... Nice plug for Activision ... Phelps mania should move an extra 50K copies first week alone
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:07PM philmcfail said
Yeah, I noticed that. And you'd think when giving a game away months early to a famous athlete on morning television news, the damn product would be PRESENTED flawlessly from factory errors.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:00PM (Unverified) said
I heard that the gave Phelps the Rock band 2 version of Nintendo 64.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:19PM (Unverified) said
Damn you terrible English skills!!!!
You make a fool of me once again!! >:(.
Reply
You make a fool of me once again!! >:(.
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 10:30PM (Unverified) said
But now you know and KNOWING is half of the battle.
G.I JOE!!
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G.I JOE!!
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:03PM (Unverified) said
Why are we making Chuck Norris jokes about Michael Phelps?
Reply
Posted: Sep 2nd 2008 10:23AM Vcize said
It happens if you've already posted once in the article. The next time you hit reply, it won't bring up the "replying to...." bit and will just make a new post.
You have cut the end off the URL so it ends with the page number and reload the page, and then you can reply again.
Reply
You have cut the end off the URL so it ends with the page number and reload the page, and then you can reply again.
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:29PM (Unverified) said
Shame on you for that link, Joystiq (or can he?). That was the worst thing I've read all week. I had to stop once I got to the following paragraph:
"This is the end my friend. Dumbing down of America before the marketing and media and political gods is long complete. Knowingly or not we are in it just for the sake of chasing our own tails. Eating our own young. We are part of the societal and global loop structure that is larger than the capability of our individual comprehension of the matters that concern us and our well-beings. We are pre-wired, pre-programmed, and our basic emotions and life experiences are pre-determined. We are intellectual cyborgs that have inbred and self-mutated. Worst of all -- we come with no expiration date."
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"This is the end my friend. Dumbing down of America before the marketing and media and political gods is long complete. Knowingly or not we are in it just for the sake of chasing our own tails. Eating our own young. We are part of the societal and global loop structure that is larger than the capability of our individual comprehension of the matters that concern us and our well-beings. We are pre-wired, pre-programmed, and our basic emotions and life experiences are pre-determined. We are intellectual cyborgs that have inbred and self-mutated. Worst of all -- we come with no expiration date."
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:29PM (Unverified) said
Well, this proves it. The PS3 is the Superman of consoles. But only by a hundredth of a second.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:32PM 007craft said
they just gave him the ps3 version. What if he has an xbox? also, that host must really like michael. at the end she nearly orgasims just from the thought of here being able to talk to him lol. From the sound of his response, sounds like he doesnt have a girlfriend, which probably means its gonna be ultra hard to find some1 genuine because of all the money suckers whos will be after him.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 9:52PM (Unverified) said
yo both sides of the box are the front cover
and she was holding it so that the open side was on the left
lolz at the n00b
Reply
and she was holding it so that the open side was on the left
lolz at the n00b
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 10:33PM ALBGunner04 said
Michael Phelps is amazing. It's a shame he's getting the first copy of a destined shitty game. They should've given him a free copy of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation or Resistance 2 if they wanted a good shooter for the PS3.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 10:35PM (Unverified) said
Not only it was an empty box after that no one had the heart to tell him this COD is developed by treyarch.
http://www.instantrimshot.com/
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http://www.instantrimshot.com/
Posted: Sep 1st 2008 11:33PM (Unverified) said
Did anyone else notice the cover is on backwards?
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Posted: Sep 1st 2008 11:34PM mezzaninex said
At 2:19
One of these Phelps is not like the other, one of these Phelps is DEAD.
Reply
One of these Phelps is not like the other, one of these Phelps is DEAD.
Posted: Sep 2nd 2008 1:24AM (Unverified) said
He won eight gold medals not eighteen, as written in the article....
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Posted: Sep 2nd 2008 2:12AM MrSpaceCowboy said
I'd be willing to trade him for an IOU I got for Duke Nukem Forever back in 1998
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Posted: Sep 2nd 2008 7:04AM (Unverified) said
All that cash and no socks?
Phelps: "Scew this, Media Molecule, where is my advanced copy?!"
Actually, mabey it is best he doesn't get LBP yet, dont want to have thousands of swimming levels to wade through :S
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Phelps: "Scew this, Media Molecule, where is my advanced copy?!"
Actually, mabey it is best he doesn't get LBP yet, dont want to have thousands of swimming levels to wade through :S
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