Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Confirmed, Coming in November

Well, the moment you have all been waiting for (or not been waiting for) has finally arrived! Black Ops 2 has been officially confirmed. Many of you out there probably aren't surprised by this, especially considering the amount of leaks and rumors that have come out about the product in recent months, but at least now you can know 100% that the game is coming, whether you want it to or not.

The "official" announcement of the game isn't scheduled until May 1st when the first trailer of the game will air during the NBA Playoffs. However, thanks to some pre-order reservation cards that popped up at Target, we now know the official title and release date of the game. Like many speculated, the game will be simply titled Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and is set to hit (at least) the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 13, 2012.

Now as far as I'm concerned, the Call of Duty franchise has grown a little stale. I was completely in love with Modern Warfare 2 and its multiplayer components but I found myself growing tired of playing the same game with different maps and (some) weapons when Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3 came out. Granted, I did like Modern Warfare 3 loads better than I did Black Ops.

In my opinion, Black Ops was a complete and utter disappointment. The graphics were atrocious, the gameplay broken and the multiplayer irritating. Now I did like some of the new additions to multiplayer, mainly the betting system and the few new game modes you could partake in. Though even those weren't enough to keep me entertained. Even Nazi Zombies, the insanely addictive and popular multiplayer mode made famous in World at War, was terrible and I freaking loved zombies in WaW.

For me, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 seems like a quick way to cash in on the Call of Duty name while gamers wait for Modern Warfare 4 to come out. With multiplayer shooters like Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3 and the upcoming Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (the closed beta of which is now live) adding so much innovation to the genre you have to wonder how long CoD can keep pumping out the same game with a different paint job.

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Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Even More Records

Last week Activision reported that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the “biggest entertainment launch ever with an estimated sell-through of more than $400 million and more than 6.5 million units in North America and the United Kingdom alone in the first 24 hours of its release.” Now, on Thursday, November 17 Activision announced that it has broken yet another record with its latest release.

In the first five days, Modern Warfare 3 generated more than $775 million in sales. According to data provided by Charttrack, the game beat both of the records that were set by its predecessors. A year ago Call of Duty: Black Ops made $650 million in the first five days, and two years ago Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 set records by making $500 million in the first five days. Clearly, Modern Warfare 3 blew both of these records out of the water.

"With $775 million of sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days, Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for three consecutive years across all forms of entertainment," said Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, in a statement.

He also mentioned that, as a whole, the series has brought in more than $6 billion worldwide. This has made it one of the most valuable video game franchises in gaming history.

"We expect continued sales momentum, as reviews and audience enthusiasm suggest that this is the best Call of Duty game that we have ever made," he continued.

Modern Warfare 3 has been a huge success for Activision. The company reported that by the end of the first day the game was on sale, gamers had already logged in more than 7 million hours of gameplay. This is a 19 percent increase from the 5.9 million hours that gamers logged on the first day that Black Ops was released. The company also reported that on day one there were 3.3 million unique gamers that played Modern Warfare 3, up from 2.6 million unique users that played Black Ops on the first day.

Black Ops was able to haul in $1 billion in under two months, and I am certain that Modern Warfare 3 will have no issue with breaking that record as well.

Source: PCMag - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Breaks More Records, Hits $775M in Sales

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Great Success with "Black Ops" Despite the Legal Issues Activision is Facing

Activision Blizzard, the video game producer of game franchises like “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft,” is looking to add Electronic Arts to the already ongoing lawsuit that was originally filed against two former Activision employees. According to Activision, EA tried to “destabilize, disrupt and destroy” their company.

The legal issues began back in March 2010 when Jason West and Vince Zampella, the founders of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” developer Infinity Ward (which was acquired by Activision in 2003), sued Activision. They filed the lawsuit against Activision for allegedly firing them so that the company could avoid paying royalties for the $1 billion game.

Activision claimed that the two men were fired on March 1, 2010 for reasons including “breach of contract” and “insubordination,” and the company even went as far as to have the two men escorted out of their offices during a work day by a security team.

In April the men formed yet another video game studio that they named Respawn. They then proceeded to sign a very exclusive publishing and distribution contract with Activision’s biggest rival, Electronic Arts. After word of the contract got out, Activision then decided to countersue for breach of contract and employee poaching.

According to the document that was filed with the California Superior Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, December 21, Activision is adding EA to its complaints and is suing for a total of $400 million.

An amended complaint that was posted by Kotaku claimed that Activision said that EA was allegedly funding some sort of way for West and Zampella to poach key talent from Activision.

"Unable to compete with Activision and Infinity Ward, and upon information and belief, enraged by the recent defection of two Electronic Arts executives to Activision (unlike West and Zampella, the executives who left Electronic Arts were not under employment contracts) Electronic Arts was determined to retaliate. Electronic Arts set out to destabilize, disrupt and to attempt to destroy Infinity Ward,” Activision wrote.

EA did not immediately respond to many different requests for comments, but finally spokesman Jeff Brown said, “This is a PR play filled with pettiness and deliberate misdirection. Activision wants to hide the fact that they have no credible response to the claim of two artists who were fired and now just want to get paid for their work."
On December 21, the same day that Activision filed their complaints with the California Superior Court about EA, the company also announced that its “Call of Duty: Black Ops” had shown no signs of slowing down and had brought in more than $1 billion in worldwide sales since the game's release in November.

"In all of entertainment, only 'Call of Duty' and 'Avatar' have ever achieved the billion dollar revenue milestone this quickly," Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said in a statement. "This is a tribute to the global appeal of the Call of Duty franchise, the exceptional talent at Treyarch and the hundreds of extraordinary people across our many Call of Duty studios, including Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer, that work tirelessly on the franchise."

As of Tuesday players of Black Ops have collectively logged in close to 600 million hours of gameplay. Most of the people who own the game log on more than once a day and usually play for more than an hour. Activision also said that more than half of that time is being spent playing against friends.

When the game was first released on November 9, Activision sold more than $650 million worth of games in the first five days. This exceeded the previous top earner “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” which sold about $100 million less than “Black Ops.” By the end of the month, Activision had sold 8.4 million units.

Activision is obviously having some problems with all of the lawsuits and counter lawsuits, but they are definitely continuing to do well concerning “Black Ops” and many of their other games. It will take some time for them to sort through all the legal mess, but in the meantime, they will continue to produce incredible games and further their company. They might even possibly address the rumored and highly debated release of Modern Warfare 3 soon. Until then, we will all have to sit back and wait to see what happens.

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Best Selling Games of 2010

No, it’s not the end of the year, but there have been so many absolutely amazing games that have been released so far. The question is…which games have impressed consumers the most? The retail sales tracking firm NPD has released the numbers so that we can see what the top ten best selling games of 2010 are as of right now.

10. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Mario games always seem to be extremely popular. In the latest game from the Mario collection, Mario teams up with Yoshi, his lovable green friend, to go out and conquer the galaxy. It is easy to play and fun for the whole family. Sales have been a little slow here at the start, but it is estimated that over a million copies have sold so far.

9. Just Dance (Wii)
This game helps players learn real dance moves to songs that are favorites for everyone. The music featured in Just Dance spans across 60 years and several genres. Up to four players at a time can follow along to choreographed dance moves. There are also more than 30 songs to dance to ranging from songs like “You Can’t Touch This” to “Hot and Cold” to “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” Copies continue to sell, as it is surprisingly becoming one of the Wii’s biggest hits.

8. Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 2 (Xbox 360)
Call of Duty games are always top-sellers. After the first Modern Warfare, gamers couldn’t wait to get their hands on the sequel. It takes players on a journey through war-ravaged countries all over the world. Its amazing graphics, engaging first player story, and addicting multi-player mode made this game an instant winner. Although Modern Warfare 2 was actually released in 2009, sales show no sign of really slowing down, allowing it to still make the 2010 list at #8.

7. Pokémon HeartGold (DS)
Although I wasn’t one of those girls that got into Pokémon when it first came out, there were so many kids that obsessed over it and still do. In this game you are a Pokémon trainer that is traveling from town to town to train, catch, and battle different Pokémon. The Pokémon popularity continues on with HeartGold making it #7 sales-wise.

6. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
It all started with Wii Sports, but Wii Sports Resort has taken it to the next level. It’s even more incredible when you pair your Wii Remote with the MotionPlus accessory. With Wii Sports Resort, you can play a dozen different resort-themed sports activities ranging from fencing to water skiing to sky diving. This game was released in 2009 too, but it’s still going strong.

5. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
This fitness game has completely taken off. It focuses completely on personal improvement and lets you choose how you want to workout. It also tracks everything that you do and allows you to monitor all of your progress. Wii Fit Plus has millions of users getting fit and continues to fly off the shelves.

4. God of War III (Playstation 3)
This is an amazing game with stunning graphics and an intriguing storyline. It follows Kratos on his quest to kill the god Zeus, who just happens to be his father. This game mainly focuses on fighting, but the battling is epic, so you don’t really ever get tired of it. This fantastic game has definitely earned itself the #4 spot.

3. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)
Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption is one of my favorite games as of right now. It’s great to finally have a video game that takes place in the wild west. It puts you in the shoes of the former outlaw John Marston as he fights for his family and his future in the law-lacking plains of the West. Over two million copies of Red Dead have been sold already, and I have a feeling those numbers will only continue to increase.

2. Pokémon SoulSilver (DS)
This game was released right alongside Pokémon HeartGold (#7), but SoulSilver has been a little bit more of a success. The only difference between the two is which Pokémon you can catch. This game has been quite a hit. If you combined the sales from HeartGold and SoulSilver, they would definitely take the number one spot.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
This is the newest edition to the Super Mario Bros. franchise. It features new characters and power-ups mixed in with the normal fan favorites. This classic Nintendo game has new twists and turns that allow the game to outsell the new Super Mario Galaxy 2, despite the fact that New Super Mario Bros. Wii was released in 2009. It is by far the top-selling game of 2010 and should definitely keep its place for awhile.

Check out the games that were the top rated games of 2009.

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Video Game Sales Higher Than Movies Sales in the U.K.

In the U.K. video game sales have been much higher than movie sales. Now when they say movie sales this includes both trips to the movie theater and DVD sales. I think its pretty incredible that game sales could outweigh the profits from both theaters and DVDs.

According to the data-monitoring company GFK Chart-Track, 1.73 billion British pounds (about $2.8 billion) were spent on video games. The U.K. Film Council stated that 1 billion British pounds ($1.6 billion) were spent at the British box office, while 198 million British pounds ($320 million) was spent on new films released on DVD and Blu-ray. This comes to a total of 1.198 billion pounds ($1.93 billion) on movie sales. All of this means that approximately 532 million more pounds ($860 million) were spent on video games than on film in 2009.

Now these numbers are nothing compared to the 2009 U.S. games sales. It is estimated that sales should come in around $20 million for the year. I mean in November alone over $2.7 billion were spent on games in the U.S.

The price cuts in video game consoles most definitely added to the U.K. video game sales. These cuts expanded the number of potential buyers who had previously been unwilling to put out the money for a game system. The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game that came out this fall also added greatly to the sales. Amazon.co.uk reported that Modern Warfare 2 was their No. 1 seller for 2009. They even beat out the DVD sales for “Twilight” and “Harry Potter.”

The GFK Chart-Track company also found that the number of game consoles in Britain almost doubled in 2009. It went up to 25 million, which means that there are enough to have one console in every nine out of ten households.

So video game sales show that gaming seems to be the dominant form of entertainment in 2009. We’ll have to see if this pattern carries on into the new year.

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Modern Warfares Last Stand for Dedicated Servers

If you have been following the release of Modern Warfare 2 then you've probably come across the droves of outraged pc gamers who are demanding answers from Infinity Ward. On October 17th, 2009, less than a month away from the highly anticipated release of Modern Warfare 2, Robert Bowling AKA Infinity Wards community manager announced over a live podcast that there would be NO dedicated server support for Modern Warfare 2. Instead, a new matchmaking system called IWnet will be implemented. In response to this bombshell, a Dedicated Server Petition for MW2 was created in which over 170,000 people have already signed. Despite these large numbers, Infinity Ward doesn't even seem phased as they have released no official response to the issue.

With the release of Modern Warfare 2 just around the corner (Nov 10, 2009), many devastated PC gamers are losing hope that their cries will be answered. In spite of all this, Angry Employee has taken up the cause for Dedicated Servers and has launched a campaign that they hope ALL fraggers across the world will embrace. The concept, that all PC gamers across the world will unite and come together as one on the 10th November 2009(MW2's Official release date), and send IW a message of exactly what they are doing in removing dedicated servers.

The Plan? A PC COMMUNITY PLAY DAY COMBINED WITH A 24 HOUR DEDICATED SERVER SHUT DOWN. What the plan entails is to create a large amount of traffic to Infinity Wards master server via a large number of PC gamers simply logging on and playing in dedicated servers. When the clock hits midnight on November 10th, the community as a whole will turn off their dedicated servers. The goal being that this large traffic build up will ensure that when the clock hits 00:00 Nov 10th there will be massive connection losses at IW's master servers. As each country and continent follows suite Infinity Ward will see for themselves exactly how we feel about no dedicated servers.

How can you participate in this event? Overall Traffic to the master server and people being online is the key. If you are working, leave your home PC in a dedicated server in spectate mode. If your home all day but can't frag, you guessed it, leave your home PC in a server and in spectate. If you have purchased or are currently renting a dedicated server, try and populate your server and be sure to turn off your server when the clock reaches midnight.

This may very well be the PC communities last chance to show Infinity Ward how widespread our ill feelings are towards no dedicated server support. Blurt this message out wherever you can and help spread the word. Whether its in forums, news papers, chat rooms or in game. Wherever you are and whatever your doing, try and make this day count for something.

Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Holds Some Nice Surprises

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare brought a new era to the hit series Call of Duty by taking gamers out of the traditional and familiar World War II setting and dropping players in a modern day combat situation. The change in pace for the franchise was a huge hit with gamers selling over 13 million copies and becoming the best selling Xbox 360 game of 2007.

A mere two years later, the next installment in the Modern Warfare series is about to be unleashed to the public and fans are reeling at a chance to get their hands on a copy of the game. The big question is, however, which version of the game to get. Confused? Like it's predecessor, Modern Warfare 2 will be shipping with three different editions of the game: the Normal Edition, the Hardened Edition and the Prestige Edition. Now you may be asking yourself "What's the difference?" Well a lot actually. Depending on which edition you decide to buy depends on what sort of nice prizes you get, and how much you are going to pay.

If you decide to buy the Normal Edition of the game, you can expect to pay $60 and receive the game, the traditional plastic box and the instruction manual. That sound too boring for you? The Hardened Edition, which will run $80, comes with the game, a metal special edition case, the instruction manual and a limited edition art book that contains concept drawings of player models, weapons, vehicles, game levels and tons of other stuff. But. if you truly love your Modern Warfare 2 and you have to go all out when you get it, then you are going to want to get the Prestige Edition. This is the mother of all special edition video games released. With the Prestige Edition of the game you will receive the game, the instruction manual, the limited edition art book, the metal game case and a pair of fully functional night vision goggles (NVGs). Yeah, you read that right, fully functioning night vision goggles. These goggles are branded with the Modern Warfare 2 emblem and the Infinity Ward, who developed the game, emblem. The Prestige Edition also comes with a voucher token that will allow you to download the original PC version of Call of Duty via Xbox Live or the Playstation Network and a sculpted replica of the head of "Soap" MacTavish, the main character from the first game, for you to display your NVGs on when you are not wearing them yourself. Worried about how much this little bundle of goodies is going to cost you? You should be because this ridiculously awesome version of the game will run you a mere $150.

Now the game itself isn't set to hit store shelves until November of this year, but I wouldn't recommend waiting that long to get your copy, especially if you want the Hardened or Prestige Editions of the game. My advice is that you Pre-order your copy NOW! There are only going to be a limited number of each edition and you are almost guaranteed not to find a single one on store shelves this holiday season. If you are willing to fork out the extra cash for the Prestige Edition then you will be well rewarded. Pr-orders are available now for all three editions of the game and you can expect to pick up your copy on November 10, 2009.

Source: G4TV