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Xbox Live Top 10: Halo, can anyone hear me?

by David Hinkle { Jul 7th 2009 at 11:45AM }

Xbox Live sure can, Master Chief, as your game Halo 3 was once again the most played title on Xbox Live. For the week ending June 29, many gamers took to the floating rings in space for some first-person combat, knocking down the duo of Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty 4 to second and third place, respectively. The rest of the list posted by Major Nelson is pretty run-of-the-mill, save for what came in last place: Rock Band 2. We can't remember the last time Rock Band 2 populated this list. So, good for you, little game-that-could!

On the XBLA side, it's all about the Worms 2. Explosive sheep were quite the draw, as the sequel to Team17's fragfest managed to beat out another popular XBLA title, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalker. We guess Magic: The Gathering is all tapped out. Get it? Hello? Where are you going?

Xbox Live Top 10: World remains at war

by David Hinkle { Jun 23rd 2009 at 5:15PM }

Dearest Lorraine,

Microsoft's Major Nelson has brought us another annual status report on enemy movements throughout Xbox Live, and it's not pretty. Conflict has surrounded us, as the enemy, Call of Duty: World at War, has spread like wildfire, becoming the most-played game last week. We tried to flank it with our platoons of Halo 3 and Gears of War 2, but, alas, the enemy had reinforcements in Call of Duty 4. Hope has diminished, and one only needs walk by the injured tent to feel the full force of the enemy's cruelty.

Lorraine, I know not if I will return home. I have managed to live longer than most, but, I feel there's that one bullet out there with my name on it, relentlessly pursuing its new home. Please, take care of my Gamertag when I am gone (I think my Gold subscription ends next month, so look into that), and be sure to earn as many Achievements for me as you can. I suggest you start with Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Yours Truly,
Gus

Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 sells one million first weekend

by David Hinkle { Jun 18th 2009 at 3:57PM }

Activision has announced that Call of Duty: World at War's second DLC offering has deployed over one million downloads in its first weekend of battle, selling as much in two days as the first DLC pack sold in a week. The one million figure spans both PSN and Xbox Live from June 11 to June 14, and suggests the second DLC offering will easily trump the two million milestone of the first DLC pack. Who's taking bets?

Infinity Ward backs away from Call of Duty subscription rumors

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 18th 2009 at 2:55PM }

With rumors pointing to a Call of Duty subscription service under consideration at Activision Blizzard, developer Infinity Ward hopes to remove itself from the idea as much as possible. The company's community manager, Robert Bowling, noted on the developer's forum, "This rumor has absolutely nothing to do with Infinity Ward or our games, including Modern Warfare 2. We would never introduce such a system for Modern Warfare 2 so don't worry. Multiplayer will always be equal and free for everyone as always."

The survey, allegedly sent out by Activision, asked "how likely" players would be to purchase or subscribe to a system that provides "new in-game content like map packs and betas," and "team-management services." It appears Infinity Ward's statement doesn't overrule the rumors completely -- Bowling appears to be addressing pay-to-play multiplayer more than anything -- but it's good to see such rapid response to a concerned community.

So, what's the other Call of Duty developer, Treyarch, up to?

Over 11 million enlisted in Call of Duty: World at War

by David Hinkle { Jun 16th 2009 at 2:45PM }

Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War has been quite the retail success for Activision, as Edge has revealed the game has sold a ridiculous 11 million copies across all platforms. And Activision is mighty proud, as the company's strategy of alternating development on the franchise has paid off. Add the success of the game's DLC, and you've got yourself one nice money-printing machine.

The Great Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 Code Hunt [update]

by Justin McElroy { Jun 12th 2009 at 11:31AM }

Yeah, we're still work-shopping the name. Anyway, Activision sent a bunch over for the 360, and we thought we'd pass them along to you, our trusted friends. So here's the deal: We've got seven codes, and we've hidden them in other Call of Duty-related posts from the past (just to make things interesting). If you find one and use it, let us know in the comments (and give us the number, if you don't mind). We've got seven to give away, so hopefully everyone will get a shot.

So, what are you waiting for? Get clicking! We'll make the first one easy!

[Update: OK gang, it looks like all of them were found. Congrats to those who got all up on it.]

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Call of Duty: World at War is $25 on Steam through May 18

by Randy Nelson { May 15th 2009 at 3:20PM }

Valve's Steam store continues its trend of weekend ~~deals~~ steals, offering the PC version of Call of Duty: World at War for half-price from today until the final minutes of Sunday, May 17. Regularly priced for download at $49.99, the game -- which includes the recently released Map Pack 1 -- is bargain hunter bait at $24.99. Activision's WWII-era FPS joins the cuddlier likes of Telltale Games' Strongbad and Sam & Max series, which are also 50% off until the 18th.

Watch footage of the next World at War DLC ... right now!

by Ben Gilbert { May 15th 2009 at 3:20PM }

It's ~~eight minutes~~ footage of next month's Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2! Alright, alright, it's not the entire map pack, but it does feature the Russian trainyard themed, "Corrosion," as well as "Sub Pens," a map based in a submarine pen.

Sure, we'd love to see video of the purported "hell hounds" coming to "Shi No Numa," the Nazi zombie infested part of the DLC, but wouldn't everyone? We're just going to have to wait until some more video hits the webs from WaW developer, Treyarch. For the whole schebang, hit the break and have a ball!

Update: The YouTube video after the break has been replaced by a couple of GameSpy videos. Check out all their Map Pack 2 videos right here.

[Thanks, John H.!]

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'Call of Duty 7' revealed by Treyarch animator profile

by David Hinkle { May 13th 2009 at 11:40AM }

Duty is a hell of a thing. It's always calling you to it, and it would appear that Activision is already in production of the Treyarch follow-up to Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2, as is the company's pattern. And that's where David Kim's LinkedIn profile comes into play (check out his personal site here), which mentions that he's currently working as senior animator on Call of Duty 7.

With Modern Warfare 2 expected to deploy this holiday season, though, we likely won't hear anything substantial on this new Call of Duty for some time. But, considering how Activision likes to pump out the sequels to its key franchises, it's probably a safe bet to expect Call of Duty 7 sometime in 2010. We actually knew that before this listing popped up.

[Via superannuation]

Battlestations: Pacific launch trailer launches war over the Pacific

by Ben Gilbert { May 11th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Just one day from the release of Battlestations: Pacific, the game's publisher Eidos has released the sea battle-infused launch trailer. We're not sure how much of the trailer is actual gameplay versus the game playing out, but rest assured you can find out for yourself by checking out the demo on Xbox Live and PC.

You'll forgive us if we don't express heady excitement for the game as, like Treyarch's Noah Heller, we're just kinda done with World War II titles. That being said, for those of you looking to retell history on the Eastern stage, Battlestations: Pacific may very well be right for you. We'll be over here thinking about Modern Warfare 2 and sneaking around New Mombassa in the future. Can you really blame us?

Gallery: Battlestations: Pacific

World at War DLC reaches 2 million downloads

by Xav de Matos { May 5th 2009 at 4:45PM }

Activision just sent word that the multiplayer map DLC for Call of Duty: World at War (otherwise known as Map Pack 1) has surpassed a combined worldwide download milestone of 2 million units across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Needless to say, Activision seems pleased ... and why wouldn't it be? Map Pack 1 already broke Xbox Live sales records, selling one million units in its first week of availability.

Treyarch studio head, Mark Lamia, took a moment to comment on the "milestone," thanking the loyal community of World at War players for supporting the game -- and presumably, for not being completely tired of World War II themed shooters. Lamia also reminds gamers the World at War team expects to deliver new DLC sometime this June.

Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3 maintains top spot, VOOT takes top honors on XBLA

by David Hinkle { May 5th 2009 at 11:30AM }

It's good to be the king, and no other title would know that better than Halo 3, which still reigns supreme at the top of the Xbox Live activity charts. According to Major Nelson, the latest figures show Bungie's crouching-on-dead-enemy-faces-sim beating out other fan favorites, Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty 4.

On the XBLA side, the dual release of Virtual On and Banjo-Tooie proved to be quite the alluring mix, as both titles populated the top of the XBLA list. Now if only we could get a game that combines birds, backpacks, bears, and gigantic death machines ...

Rumor: Next Call of Duty possibly set in Vietnam

by Griffin McElroy { May 3rd 2009 at 4:00PM }

Treyarch's Noah Heller mentioned shortly before the release of Call of Duty: World at War that the developer was probably going to lay off World War II for a while, leaving many to wonder what the stage of operations for the next CoD would be. If a report from That VideoGame Blog proves accurate, Activision may be taking the franchise to a much groovier era -- the 1960s. (Anno Domini, that is -- though who are we to assume 1960 B.C. wasn't equally groovy?)

TVGB is reporting that an anonymous, "trusted" source informed them Activision's been looking to license "Vietnam War era tunes, as well as Cuban, African, and Soviet Union music." The source mentioned that Heller (and, assumedly, Treyarch) is involved in the aforementioned license hunting. As with all rumors spawned by anonymous tipsters, we encourage you to take this rumor with a two-ton boulder of salt -- just to be safe, we've contacted Activision for a comment.

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Next Call of Duty: World at War map pack coming in June

by Randy Nelson { Apr 30th 2009 at 3:00PM }

What do you do after selling one million Call of Duty: World at War map packs during their first week of availability? You make more. And, lo, Activision and developer Treyarch are doing just that, prepping a second salvo of DLC for a June release.

The Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 (c'mon, guys, you can surely come up with something catchier using all that dough) will introduce three new multiplayer maps: "Banzai," a jungle environment riddled with caves; "Corrosion," a Russian train yard; and "Sub Pens," a rain-drenched submarine base.

That's all well and good, but now for the good stuff: a new Nazi Zombie map! "Shi No Numa," home to this guy, promises new Perk machines, a new weapon, new Achievements / Trophies and flaming Hell hounds. It also promises to keep our repository of nightmare material well-stocked.

Artists list work on unannounced Ultimate Spider-Man sequel [Update]

by Xav de Matos { Mar 24th 2009 at 8:35PM }

Eagle-eyed resume watchers, superannuation, spotted two former Treyarch artists list Ultimate Spider-Man 2 on their work history profiles. Interestingly, Activision has yet to announce a sequel to the 2005 game, based on a comic series of the same name.

3D environment artist, Andrew Swihart (employed at Treyarch from 2006-2007) lists his title as motion graphic artist on the game while effects artist, Johnny P. van Zelm (Treyarch employee from 2000-2007), lists the spider-sequel as one of the many games he worked on, including the 2005 original. According to the listing the game, if real -- and if it didn't eventually become Spider-Man: Web of Shadows -- has been in development since 2006, at least.

A sequel from Activision?! That isn't a crazy thought -- especially considering they are Activision. When contacted for a comment, Activision's PR company told us that they weren't aware of any Ultimate Spider-Man sequel in development and reminded us no such game has been announced.

Update: One of our sneaky insiders has told us that Ultimate Spider-Man 2 was in development soon after the launch of the original but development was canceled.