Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 11 March 2010

Last night it was Call of Duty:

Guinness Warfare

    Apart from some tut-tuts from EA, nothing new on the Infinity Ward/Activision lawsuit. We have the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 DLC to look forward to, tho. And, as noted in the first Bad Company 2 link below, another round of VIP DLC is due on 30 March 2010, the same date as the MW2 DLC is due to it Xbox Live. Coincidence? I think not. :D On to the links:

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Fastest nuke ever; 2:00 mins
Setup? You decide.

MW2 Myth Madness 2010 announced
by defendthehouse

• GameSpot: EA COO weighs in on Infinity Ward firings, retail's fate.
• Late-to-the-party MW2 review: Tech-Human.
• TUAW: GDC World at War: Zombies iPhone post-mortem.

    More Gaming Links:

BC2 Hardcore DM by

TheSandyRavage

    At the end of the vid, TheSandyRavage has a title card that says "It's a fun game that shouldn't be compared to MW2." Absolutely right. The game is different, not better per se. Some folks may like one more than the other, but it's apples and oranges. So, don't slag off either game if you like one better. :D

BC2: Advice for MW2 Players

by WoodysGamertag on MachinimaRespawn

• Joystiq: Impressions: Medal of Honor.
• VGRevolution: Medal of Honor Preview.
•  IncGamers: New Medal of Honor trailer due this weekend.
• Kotaku: Medal of Honor Is Coming Back The Hard Way.

• EA Battlefield Blog: How to avoid “mapathy” without paying!
• Bad Company review round-up: The Daily Athenaeum; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Gaming Today; t5m; New Zealand Herald.
• Game Infowire: Bodycount screenshots.
• GiantBomb: On with the Bodycount.
• Joystiq via digg: OnLive launching for PC and Mac 17 June, $15 per mo.
• GamesRadar: Portal 2: 10 things you need to know.
• Co-Optimus: Source says Six Days in Fallujah is ready for release.
• Joystiq: PC gaming revenue grew in 2009 as retail PC game sales shrank.
• ExplicitGamer: The Definition of Insanity, video games that need a new approach.
• 1Up: Power Gig: Rise of the SixString (PS3). Imagine Rock Band with real guitars.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Ars Technica via Digg: The Making of the Terminator's laser-sighted pistol.
• LiveLeak: Potato Gun, Black Powder Style.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 10 March 2010

Man, I hope the DLC is good...

    Well, it's official. In a humorous tweet yesterday, fourzerotwo revealed the release date for Modern Warfare 2 DLC on Xbox Live: 30 March 2010. Let's all hope and pray that the DLC doesn't turn out like this:

     After all, there's a legion of timmies poised to run around the new maps lighting tactical insertions, wall-humping, and switching weapons around on the new maps. On to the links:

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Modern Warfare 2: Team DeathMatch #39 - Karachi (RPD) by DubbleJord

• Cure for "Mapathy": MW2 DLC coming to Xbox Live 30 March 2010.
• VGChartz: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hits 25 million unique players across all platforms.
• Kotaku: Real Soldiers Recreate Modern Warfare 2 Box Art.
• Brisbane Times: Old interview (circa CoD 2 days) with Vince Zampella discussing realism, participation in game development by military advisors, and veteran reaction to combat games.
• Above the Law: Lawsuit of the Day: Activision is Truly Embroiled in Modern Warfare.

 An article tailor-made for MW2 douchebags:

• Complex.com: A-hole Strategy Guide for Modern Warfare 2. 
  

    More Gaming Links:

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 First

Impressions by WoodysGamertag

A double-shot of Jessica Chobot...

(Hehheh. Double shot...)

IGN Daily fix for 08 March 2010

with the luscious Jessica Chobot

IGN Daily Fix for 09 March 2010

with the luscious Jessica Chobot

• Kotaku: Aliens vs. Predator map pack due 18 March 2010.
• GameTrailers: Metro 2033 "Ghosts of the Metro" trailer.
• DigitalBattle via digg: Concept art from Half-life 3 leaked?
• GameTrailers: Bad Company 2 vehicle gameplay vid.
• Bad Company 2 review round-up: Vancouver Sun.
• Voodoo Extreme: More on Bad Company 2 UK sales.
• Escapist: DICE considering Bad Company 2 for the Mac.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• PCWorld via Slashdot: NewEgg Confirms Shipping Fake Core i7s.
• Snopes: True hero, Brian Chontosh, USMC.
• Telegraph UK: True hero, James McKie, 3rd Battalion, The Rifles.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 9 March 2010

    As noted in the first link below, fourzerotwo has resumed tweeting after a 5 day absence. No news on the Infinity Ward/Activision lawsuit, but Joystiq has an interesting analysis of the suit, Law of the Game. The featured vid today is Akimbo Slice laying waste to the Timmies with the MG4. Also included is the Michael Barnes "No Russian" machinima tweeted yesterday by fourzerotwo. On to the links:

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Modern Warfare 2: FFA with MP5k + Crazy MG4 Ownage by TheSandyRavage

• Manhunt called off: Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert "Fourzerotwo" Bowling has resumed tweeting.
• BlendGames: Modern Warfare 2 DLC Details Coming This Week.
• Product Reviews: MW2 vs. BC2: Which is the better game?
• GameInformer: The IW/Activision Lawsuit: What it means and where it's going.
• UGO: Activision responds to West/Zampella suit.
• MajorNelson: Call of Duty: World at War map pack bundle for 1600 Microsoft points.

Michael Barnes' "No Russian" Machinima

    More Gaming Links:

GameInformer poll:

• The Independent:  Current Google Insights trends: 'Bad Company 2', Oscar 2010, 'Alice in Wonderland'.
• AtomicGamer: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Tips.
• MercuryNews: Tech Test Drive: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360, PS3).
• Crispy Gamer (Yeah, apparently someone still has a job over there...): Battlefield: Bad Company 2 review.
• Charleston Gazette: 'Bad Company 2' offers fresh take on modern warfare.
• Big Download: Battlefield Bad Company 2 stays in top spot on Steam's weekly list.
• El33tOnline: Bad Company 2 experiences online difficulties, Xbox 360 hit the hardest, should be fixed soon.
• GameSpy: Medal of Honor: War's Hell, and Good Looking?
• Kotaku: Bodycount (sequel to Xbox classic Black) announced. As hinted back in February by Joystiq, the game is being developed by Black creator, Stewart Black. 
• Tom's Hardware: Crysis 2 screenshots will blow your mind (and your CPU).
• CVG: Vanquish 'a brand new kind of shooter'.
• Voodoo Extreme: Ubisoft weekend authentication server meltdown.
• Destructoid: Ubisoft lied about DRM servers, admits they were attacked.
• GameSpy: PlayStation 3D: Free Firmware Upgrade, Hugely Expensive New TV Needed.
• Joystick Dvision op-ed: Pretension +1: Games Are Made By People.
• Kotaku: Can Hurt Locker inspire a new generation of "war" games? In a word, no.

The Onion: Modern Warfare 3

• Co-Optimus: Microsoft demos one game on three platforms. You can play the same game, with the same gamesaves, on all three platforms.
• Examiner: Blind gamer beats Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Or maybe his friends just told him he beat the game.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Tom's Hardware: NewEgg Ships Fake Core i7s to Unlucky Customers.
• MaximumPC: Freeware Files: Five Apps for Perfect Podcast Recording, Listening, and Editing!
• CBSNews: Swiss voters decide not to give animals right to a lawyer. Seriously.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 5 March 2010

    The legal wrangling between former Infinity Ward CEOs Vince Zampella and Jason West and parent company/owner Activision is going to be nasty. According to yesterday's Kotaku article on the lawsuit, Zampella and West have filed against Activision, the two fired CEOs accuse game publisher of "Orwellian moves". On to the links:

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Modern Warfare 2 Mythbusters, Episode 4

• Joystiq: Rumor: Modern Warfare 2 DLC 'Stimulus Package' screens.
• ZergWatch: Rumor: Infinity Ward had been courting EA, other publishers.
• GameTrailers: Modern Warfare 2 Spec Ops: Armor Piercing Solo Veteran Gameplay.

Direct Impact with Javelin

    More Gaming Links:

• Blue's News: Valve Half-life for Apple teaser images.
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 review round-up: GameRant; Boomtown (PS3); GameZone (PS3); GamesRadar (PC); CheatCC; PlanetXbox; GameSpot (PC); Blast Magazine; GameSpy; Gameplanet.
• Stuff: The Battlefield/Modern Warfare feud.
• Big Download: Ubisoft DRM already cracked?
• Edge Online: Ubisoft denies DRM is cracked.
• InfoAddict via Slashdot: Ubisoft DRM cracked in one day.
• Kotaku: Ubisoft making emergency changes to PC DRM.
• GamaSutra: Bioshock ships 4 million units with sales boost from 3 million seller Bioshock 2.
• Kotaku: Red Dead Redemption delayed till May.
• GameTrailers: Metro 2033 "Ghost of the Metro" YouTube trailer.
• Joystiq: Aussie Ratings Board to discuss an R 18+ rating at April meeting.
• Kotaku: Deus Ex 3 teaser image: A Zippo. No, really.

 Halo 3 Mythbusters, Ep. 5

IGN Top 10 Halo 3 kills

IGN Daily Fix with the luscious
Jessica Chobot

   Non-Gaming Links:

• Slashdot: Classical music as a form of social control on loitering and misbehaving teens. Why not? Their music drives me away.
• MotherJones: Sting in hot water for private concert for Usbekistan tyrant who boiled political enemies alive.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 3 March 2010

    (A couple of new Call of Duty items, including hints of a massive, top-level shake-up at Infinity Ward!  Also, some left-over links which I never had a chance to post for 26 February... Better late than never.)

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

MW2 Hardcore TDM, SPAS-12

   The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 spawning system has spawned (pun intended) a bajillion articles, forum posts, and YouTube vids. Here's a selection of spawn fails:

MW2 Epic Spawn Fail Vids

The Winner: Spawn-assisted suicide by Javelin

• BASHandSlash: CoD getting a third developer?
• Barron's: Infinity Ward co-CEOs Zampella and West fired by Activision?
• Overclockers Club: Sapphire HD 5830 Modern Warfare 2 Edition Review.

    More Gaming Links:

Bad Company 2 Day 1 Map DLC

• PlatformNation: Bad Company 2: Badder Company?
• Possible BC2 dialogue spoiler. It's one of the coolest things I've heard in a long time. Click tweet link at your peril. Thanks, locust9! :)
• IGN: Five reasons to have Metro 2033 on your radar.
• IGN Daily Fix for 02 March 2010 with the luscious Jessica Chobot. (And, no, if the Daily Fix features someone else I don't bother to link it.)
• Ars Technica: Always on internet requirement for DRM also screws deployed soldiers.
• Simple Thoughts (blog): Shares of GameStop tumble as CFO Smith resigns after 6 months on the job.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Lest we forget: Denver Post pics of US troops storming Marjah. God bless you all and come home safe and soon!
•  Newsweek: When Cinéma Vérité isn't. An Iraq vet on The Hurt Locker.
• Networkworld: Utterly insane Italian guilty verdict for Google execs.
• Billshrink: The 12 biggest ripoffs in America.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 25 February 2010

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

HC TDM on PC with Intervention
and .44 Magnum by MrYosherful

What really went down on Xbox Live
with The Pro & the iTzLupo the Douchebag

• TalkXbox: The Truth comes out: What really went down on Xbox Live with The Pro.4Chan's infamous Anonymous is on the case, so things don't bode well for iTzLupo and company.
• IGN: Five ways to improve MW2's multiplayer.
• El33tOnline: MW2 stays on top on Xbox Live. The lobby system & match-making are broken. I added a comment that they need to stop dumping players into matches in the last 1-2 minutes. And foreign players need to stop getting rear-ended by being placed into laggy US lobbies.
• BASHandSlash: CoD4 Legends PC gaming team formed. The should really rethink their banner, tho:

    More Gaming Links:

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 TV ad
Thanks to fausto412 for the tweet!

• Joystiq: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 PC Valparaiso walk-thru.
• Joystiq: Home-made Ghostbusters proton gun Wii mod.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Kotaku: iTunes "explicit" application category appears and then disappears.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 24 February 2010

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Riot Shield hardcore TDM by
VideoGameDayWalker

• PopMatters: Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer map style.
• Destructoid: People need to stop making songs about videogames. Click the YouTube player at your own risk. See, I warned you.

    More Gaming Links:

• GamesRadar: Medal of Honor PC First Look.
• GameTrailers: Bad Company 2 preview.
• GameSpy: Aliens vs. Predator tops in UK; doesn't crack top 5 in US. Cultural divide?
• Edge Online: 2K talking up aggressive Bioshock 2 DLC plans.
• GameDaily: Best Video Game Rookies. Surprised Gordon Freeman didn't make the list. He's a Ph.D. who made mincement out of aliens, Marine grunts, and invisible assassins.
• Edge Online: John Carmack gets lifetime achievement award at GDC.
• Kotaku: Custom one of a kind Solid Snake action figure is full of awesome.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Action Comics #1 (the debut of Superman, 1938) sells for $1 million at auction.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 23 February 2010

   Featured MW 2 YouTube Video

TDM Quarry, AK Team Free-for-all™
by ThatGuyWhoCamps

• 1Up: iPhone World at War Zombies review.
• Not news: GamingUnion: Bolding: No zombies for Modern Warfare 2 DLC.

    More Gaming Links:

• Bit-Tech: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 preview.
• Team Xbox: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 video preview.
• And so it begins: Battlefield 3 hype machine starts up with a trio of articles: MMFOG; In Entertainment (blog); and GamingUnion.
• Voodoo Extreme: Aliens vs. Predator the fastest selling game of 2010 in the UK.
• Allegedly Speaking thru Slashdot: An Early Look at Halo: Reach.
• Signs of Life over on Crispy Gamer: Bioshock 2 reviewed.
• Terminal Gamer: Another story on The Pro.
• TalkXbox: Microsoft responds to recent Xbox Live Drama.
• Co-Optimus: Operation Flashpoint 2 game enhancements suspended.
• Kotaku: Stargate Resistance developer files for Chapter 11 protection.
• IGN Daily Fix for 22 February 2010 with the luscious Jessica Chobot.
• Joystiq: Used game dealers respond to "Project Ten Dollar".
• Fragland Op-ed: CynicGamer: They are screwing us over.
• Previously missed: Crispy Gamer Op-ed: To talk or not to talk? The Question of Silent Protagonists. But my Protagonist is never silent. I'm constantly cursing out bad level design, crappy derivative weapons, Thorazine-inspired voice acting, and glitchy game levels.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Afterdawn: Graphic: The Rise and Fall of Windows Mobile.
• MaximumPC: HP pocket HD camcorders: 1080p at $199.
• ITWorld: Windows metrics source lies about identity.
• Afterdawn: FBI investigates school laptop "narc-cam" scandal.
• Gizmodo: Fake Mars mission befallen by real drama.
• GamerCrave: Why DRM sucks and doesn't work.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 20 February 2010

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Luckiest MW2 Triple Ever.

• Product Reviews News: Panicky report on the JTAG douche video currently slouching its way thru the gaming sites. FWIW, I left a twitter-logged comment that it was a modded Xbox 360, not an exploit per se. One of the douches at the heart of the video is revealed in this 2Old2Play forum thread. I previously posted a thread there about the vid, and the 2Old2Play forumers recognized it for the hardware cheat it is.

    Wanna see what kind of immature, cheating douchebags we're talking about? OK, here's one of the dough-faced twats:

Props to 2Old2Play demigod Yem for the

douchebag intel.

• High school paper review of Modern Warfare 2. "You could complete the campaign with a pistol." O RLY?
• Operation Sports: A spelling and punctuation challenged blog review of MW2. At least, it doesn't claim you could complete the campaign with your sidearm.
• If you're young enough to know who they are: The band Your Demise will play MW2 on Xbox Live with fans 23 February 2010, according to the Metal Underground website.
• Complex.com: Game Vixen bio of Call of Duty player Charisse Nicole Williams. Woof!

 
    More Gaming Links:

• NeoSeeker: Metro 2033 PC version comes with Steamworks.
• GamaSutra: Aliens and Predators overrun the UK multi-platform sales charts.
• IncGamers: New Medal of Honor game will retain the lean and peak-around-corners functions. The article doesn't state whether these will be included in the console versions of the game.
•  LA Times: Anatomy of a $60 videogame. Pie chart shows where each of your dollars goes.
• Joystick Division: Top 10 scariest games of all time.

    Bad Company 2 Round-up:

• Examiner: Bad Company 2 PC pre-orders from EA's online store get a bonus: Battlefield 2142 Deluxe free.
• Destructoid: Bad Company 2 demo downloads exceed 3.5 million.
• PlayStation Lifestyle: Bad Company 2 to include VIP codes for special content DLC. Translated: Stuff you won't be able to get if you buy the game used.
• GamerBlorge: Why Modern Warfare 2 players are noobs at Bad Company 2. Because it's a new, different game?
• GameDaily: Plenty of reasons to play Bad Company 2. Other than because it's a new, different game.
• Game Hub: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 preview.
• Spong: Bad Company 2 preview.

IGN: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Campaign Hands-on Preview

    Non-Gaming Links:

• PC Pro UK via Slashdot: What you get when you buy a $40 iPhone in a bar.

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 19 February 2010

    I love watching gameplay vids. Even the bad ones can offer some helpful pointers on what not to do in a game. Today's featured vid is another episode of Top 5 Plays by GameplayUnited.

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Top 5 plays, Episode 9 by GameplayUnited.

• VG247: Lace up your jungle boots: Casting call for CoD 7 mentions SOG in VietNam.
• GamerHeadlines: DICE versus Activision rivalry heats up.
• There's a feeding frenzy as the gaming news sites are jumping to the conclusion -- as I first did -- that the AC-130 barrage of death seen in assorted YouTube clips was some kind of in-game exploit. Neoseeker and StickSkills are both echoing the news, but neither article points out that the cheats depicted require a JTAG modded Xbox 360. And, like Hitler on Xbox Live, the cheating douches will get the pummeling they deserve from the Banhammer.

 

    More Gaming Links:

• Inquisitr: Medal of Honor screenies.
• BASHandSlash: Bad Company 2 PC beta gets RC3.
• Kotaku: Halo 3 multiplayer servers to survive the Fall of Reach.
• GameTrailers: Aliens vs. Predator video review.
• Kotaku: SEGA is replacing the fragile Alien face-hugger toys featured in the premium edition of Aliens vs. Predator.
• Big Download: Metro 2033 does not use the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. engine.
• IEEE Spectrum thru Slashdot: How Valve takes on cheaters. A 12 volt car battery, some cables, and a bucket of water would be my method.
• Joystiq: Product Jun Takeuchi discusses the hard choices faced on content cutting on the Lost Planet 2 game.
• MaximumPC: Assassin's Creed 2's PC DRM blows.
• GamaSutra: OnLive gaming service details from DICE summit.
• MCV UK thru Slashdot: Switzerland considering getting tough on violent games.

    Zero Punctuation reviews Mass Effect 2

    Non-Gaming Links: 

• RadarOnline thru Digg: Megan Fox thinks she doesn't look good in underwear. Hmmm. Girls, with tattoos, less is more. An ankle tattoo of the Grateful Dead teddy bears is cool. A billboard ad on an otherwise flawless buttcheek isn't. Guys, do whatever with tatts. It doesn't make any difference unless you go batshit crazy with them, like this guy:

PS.

Call of Duty and Gaming Links, 18 February 2010

    Today's video is especially awesome. Akimbo Slice accepts a challenge to win a Free-for-All match using only the sucktacular F2000 assault rifle and no killstreak bonuses at all. Along the way, he also dispenses some righteous "Booster Justice" to a couple of headshot/nuke boosters. Watch this:

Featured MW2 YouTube Video

Free for All on Highrise, F2000, no killstreaks by
Akimbo Slice (aka TheSandyRavage)

• GamerSyndrome jumps the gun by saying the latest patch is a "failure". The embedded vid on the article is more of the JTAG-chip mod for the Xbox 360, not glitch exploits.
• Xbox Live Suspension Forum Beaut of the Day: "I never glitched!". The Pro: You sent me an invitation to a prestige glitch lobby; have a 14 day ban.
• El33tOnline: MW2 still tops Xbox Live activity.
• CVG: What do we know about Call of Duty 7?

    More Gaming Links:

• BASHandSlash: Medal of Honor screenshots exclusive.
• PixelEnemy: How not to be a noob on Bad Company 2. (Thanks, jockyitch of BASHandSlash!)
• Joystiq: UbiSoft DRM, the downsides. Game save? What game save?
• PlayStationLifestyle: PSP review S.O.C.O.M. US Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3.
• Kotaku: SONY to require "online voucher" for buyers of used upcoming S.O.C.O.M. game to play online. In other words, if you buy used, you'll have to pay to play online.
• Kotaku: STALKER: Call of Pripyat review.
• IGN Daily Fix for 17 February 2010 with the luscious Jessica Chobot.
• GameSpy graphic: Life Cycle of a Video Game Franchise Addict.

    Non-Gaming Links:

• Slashdot: Tablet-sized 3D display that requires no glasses.

A YouTube Goldie

"It's coming down..."

PS.