modern-warfare-2 posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Wada wants Japanese gamers to stop discriminating against Western games

by JC Fletcher { Dec 8th 2009 at 5:00PM }

Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada wants Japanese gamers to be more open to Western games. In a Japanese TV interview (excerpted and translated by Kotaku), Wada said, "Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (literally 'Western games') with a terribly discriminatory meaning." While the concern about Western games may seem uncharacteristic for the head of a Japanese publisher, this is the Japanese publisher who just purchased Eidos, and who is currently marketing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in Japan.

"I'd like them to try it once," Wada said about Modern Warfare 2. "If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is." Just like the subtitles.

Modern Warfare 2 update 1.06 fixes Javelin glitch, infinite care packages, geography exploits

by David Hinkle { Dec 7th 2009 at 3:30PM }

If amazingly fast and explosive men have been the bane of your existence in Modern Warfare 2 as of late, then know that Activision's go-to guy, Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling, has got the hot scoops on a patch in the works to address the despised Javelin glitch. Version 1.06 of the game will not only do away with that awful bit of frustration, but will also address two other notable exploits in the multiplayer experience:

Fixes the Javelin glitch (thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster!)
Fixes unlimited care packages glitch
Fixes areas where players could exploit geography (e.g. hide inside rocks in Afghan)

Bowling says the patch is currently in the hands of Microsoft for certification on Xbox 360 and presumably in Sony's for PS3 certification. We've contacted Bowling for more info and will update the post when we hear back.

Source - 1.06 in Microsoft cert
Source - 1.06 patch notes

Pachter: Modern Warfare 2 sold 6m units in Nov.; PS3 hardware sales skyrocketed

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 7th 2009 at 1:40PM }

Though the November NPD sales report won't be released until later this week, gaming industry analyst (and possible soothsayer) Michael Pachter has predicted November's biggest players in the gaming hardware and software markets. Unsurprisingly, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the highlighted title in his report -- not only does the report claim the game sold around 6 million units last month in the U.S. (for about $350 million), it credits the game with pulling the industry out of a downward spiral that it's followed for seven of the past eight months.

The report also awards a large gold-star sticker to the PlayStation 3, which is predicted to have sold 700,000 units in November, an 85-percent year-over-year sales increase. Despite the two upswings, Pachter's report ends on a decidedly dour note, stating, "as 2009 draws to an end, it is clear that it will end as a horrible year for video game publishers." Pachter suggests that sales will drop off once more in December. Happy holidays, gaming industry professionals!

Modern Warfare 2 maintains top position on UK charts for fourth week

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 7th 2009 at 11:00AM }

There's "No Russian" Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 off the top spot on the UK sales charts. Infinity Ward's mega-hit is killin' terrorists, civilians and retail at a solid tick, despite the seven percent sales drop from the prior week. The FPS has held the high ground for four weeks now, repelling solid competition from the footie fantasies of FIFA 10 and the hidden blades of Assassin's Creed 2.

Call of Duty: World at War maintained the number one position on the charts last year for five weeks, before FIFA 09 rushed the goal and scored the top spot during Christmas week. Thanks to retail promotions, game of the year candidate Batman: Arkham Asylum sales surged 122 percent, bringing the Dark Knight back onto the chart in the twenty spot.

Source -- Call of Duty still in command at No1 [Chart Track]
Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

8 million played Modern Warfare 2 in its first week

by Richard Mitchell { Dec 4th 2009 at 8:01PM }

There's not really much more to say, is there? Publisher Activision notes that the 8 million folks dabbled in Modern Warfare 2 during its first week of release, which outnumbers basically every major organized army on the planet, Activision gloats. Obviously, the publisher forgot to factor in Antarctica's Grand Army of the Penguins' Republic, currently numbering in the tens of millions but, in the interest of celebration, we're willing to overlook this oversight.

On a side note, this is good news for Electronic Arts, because there's obviously a market for these newfangled war games.

Modern Warfare 2's poor translation, censorship in Japan draws ire

by David Hinkle { Dec 4th 2009 at 1:28PM }

When Square Enix enlisted to localize Modern Warfare 2 for Japan, the publisher went above and beyond the call of duty. The game would be issued a complete Japanese-dialog makeover -- whereas the first Modern Warfare localization was simply subtitled -- in response to a "strong desire from Activision to widen the entrance for beginning FPS players," as Square Enix told Famitsu. However, some gamers are reporting that the extra effort has fallen short, citing numerous translation errors in the localized game. [Insert your Bill Murray joke here.]

Additionally, Japanese site My Game Flash has rounded up other complaints about the localization, most notably an alteration to the sensationalized "No Russian" mission. Rather than delete the mission (as in the censored Russian version), Square Enix had the Japanese version of the mission adjusted to restrict the player from participating in a terrorist assault on an airport. If the player does engage civilian targets, it's game over.

Square Enix has posted an update on the Modern Warfare 2 Japanese site describing the full Japanese language and subtitle tracks and warning of the "No Russian" edits, but has not announced plans to patch the translation errors or change the limitations on the censored mission. The publisher has cited technical limitations, which prevent selectable English and Japanese language tracks. Head past the break to see some footage of the Japanese version of MW2, courtesy of andriasang.

[Via andriasang]

Source - My Game Flash [machine translation]
Source - Famitsu [machine translation]
Source - Modern Warfare 2 Japanese site

Continued →

EA aims to reclaim FPS dominance with Medal of Honor, Battlefield

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Dec 3rd 2009 at 12:30PM }

"I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, but in the way that Activision sort of alternates sequels of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty and owns the leadership position in FPS [first-person-shooter], between Medal of Honor and Battlefield, I want it back," EA CEO John Riccitiello declared in an interview with Kotaku. This means war.

With the Call of Duty franchise growing into a $3-billion juggernaut, it's no surprise to see EA looking to topple Activision's bulging beast and reap the significant rewards. According to Riccitiello, the newly rebooted Medal of Honor and March's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 represent a strategy of "innovation and quality," one he suspects is bolstered by DICE's multiplayer expertise. "We think we've got an advantage over Modern Warfare 2 with our multiplayer," he suggested. "The guys at DICE do that really, really well."

So, you think the console wars are intense? Just wait until you see the war ... wars.

Xbox Live moderators getting serious about Modern Warfare 2's Javelin glitch

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 3rd 2009 at 11:15AM }

Oh, you think it's funny, making your virtual soldier explode with the force of a small supernova every time he gets killed? Yeah, we suppose it is. Know what else is funny? Getting banned from Xbox Live. Oh, wait, did we say funny? We meant really unpleasant. However, according to Xbox Live's Director of Policy and Enforcement, Stephen Toulouse, using Modern Warfare 2's Javelin glitch (an unsavory practice demoed in this video) is cheating, as defined by the service's Terms of Use. According to Toulouse, anyone caught self-detonating will be banned for 24 hours, or if caught repeatedly, two weeks.

For us honest folk, it seems the wait for a patch, which will cull the kamikaze epidemic, will be short. Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling tweeted yesterday that a fix is currently being tested, and, "once it's cleared, we'll be urging it through Microsoft & Sony certification as fast as possible." Keep the fire, troops. We can make it through this thing together.

Google Zeitgeist 2009 shows year's top game searches

by David Hinkle { Dec 2nd 2009 at 11:59PM }

We would never call you out on your love for whatever crappy thing it is that you love but, guys, you're using Google wrong. Its recent Zeitgeist 2009 report shows what the most popular gaming term searches of this year have been and the results are pretty surprising.

At the top spot is Ghostbusters, which is fine by us -- it was a pretty big deal when it was announced and it sold a lot of copies, so naturally folks were interested. But, as we delve deeper into the top 10, the search terms become a bit more interesting. The next three terms -- "ufc" "saw" and "bakugan" -- really threw us for a loop. Saw? Really? Bakugan? What is that, a gun that uses evil Japanese spirits for ammo? Actually, that sounds pretty cool.

Further into the list, we see that Batman: Arkham Asylum managed to put a batarang in the fifth spot, much lower than we'd like, but we can live with that -- however, coming in at the sixth spot is Twilight. Guys! Vampires. Do. Not. Sparkle. Seventh was FIFA 2010, followed by Modern Warfare in eighth. The ninth spot belonged to Transformers 2, which we must admit has one of this year's best performances by a human male, so that seems okay. Finally, Resident Evil 5 rounded out the list in last place.

Modern Warfare 2 talent director Keith Arem moves to film

by David Hinkle { Dec 2nd 2009 at 7:00PM }

[IMDB]

What do you do once you've directed actors for a game that's piled up millions faster than pretty much everything? Well, if you follow the Keith Arem School of Thought, you move on to directing in film. Variety reports that Arem's just signed on to direct upcoming action-thriller Frost Road -- the story of a man who awakens from a car crash to find the world is infected with a deadly disease to which he is inexplicably immune.

Moving on to movie making is not much of a stretch for Arem, who was the talent director responsible for rounding up actors and coordinating their efforts in Modern Warfare 2. He also penned the script for Frost Road, so we're totally expecting the protagonist to have one bitchin' mustache.

So long, 2500 Modern Warfare 2 Steam cheaters

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 30th 2009 at 3:00PM }

Employing Steam's built-in VAC anti-cheating system, Infinity Ward has dropped the ban hammer on its first round of Modern Warfare 2 cheaters – 2,500 PC gamers, more specifically. In responding to a question on Twitter last Friday, community man Robert Bowling said, "The Steam ban hammer is coming down on about 2,500 confirmed #MW2 cheaters on PC today."

We contacted Bowling to find out how frequently the bans will be taking place and have yet to hear back. We'll keep you updated when we have more info, but for now we're going to get back into these hacked private servers to do some superhuman jumping and grenade spamming. You know how much we love our grenade spamming.

[Via Big Download]

Modern Warfare 2, Mario, Assassin's Creed 2 still running the UK charts

by Justin McElroy { Nov 30th 2009 at 10:00AM }

Sorry, challengers! Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii have again landed the top three slots (respectively) on the UK charts, and it looks like they've settled in for a long winter's nap. MW2 is in its third week at the top, while Italian buddies Ezio and Mario are celebrating their second week, according to GfK.

We're not sure if anything will be able to unseat these three before the holidays but, if history is any indication, NSMBW might as well build a summer cottage in the top 10.

Avatar mutliplayer trailer pits giant blue things against humans

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 29th 2009 at 7:30PM }

It could happen this week, it could happen next week, but sometime in the month of December, Ubisoft will decide to liberate Avatar from the shackles of game development. And when that happens, we're prepared to go directly online and start popping 10-foot blue things with our big human weapons. This is about survival, ya dig?

It appears that in addition to simply plugging bullets into the creatures, Ubisoft will also be allowing for some form of capture the flag (wait, isn't this about survival?). Other than that one crucial detail, the only info we gleaned from the multiplayer trailer above is that there'll be a ton of explosions, even more mid-air flip-kicks, and explosion/flip-kick-laden jungle combat when the game does finally come out. For now, unfortunately, you'll have to sate yourselves with something totally boring like Modern Warfare 2. Humans against humans? Pssshhht, that's so mid-November.

Gallery: James Cameron's Avatar (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)

Call of Duty now a $3 billion franchise

by Justin McElroy { Nov 27th 2009 at 10:15AM }

Activision announced this morning that, according to data garnered from the NPD, ChartTrack, GfK and internal estimates, the Call of Duty franchise has accumulated $3 billion-with-a-b in sales over its lifetime. As all but the densest among you have likely deduced, CoD was put over the top by the release of Modern Warfare 2, which moved $550 million in its first five days on sale.

For a bit of perspective, $3 billion is pretty darn close to the gross domestic product of the Kingdom of Swaziland, a comparison that's especially appropriate when you realize that 54 percent of Swazis have a Gamerscore over 20,000. ... Oh, wait, this doesn't say "a Gamerscore over 20,000," it says "access to clean water." Sorry, smudge on the page.

Video game tacticians could save a lot of lives

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 26th 2009 at 7:00PM }

From the medium that taught us a console is just a "hard drive with games on it" comes a new episode of NCIS (not to be confused with CSI FYI or CSI NY) that highlights the significant military advantage of employing a video game tactician. But don't even think about deploying them! As the episode's summary reveals, "a government think-tank filled with child prodigies" may be the only safe refuge for the killer's next victim.

You know what else could save a life? Not being so smug.

[Thanks, Danny]