Call of Duty: Black Ops Message Board older than one year ago

According to player reports picked up on by Strategy Informer, the PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops suffers from some rather serious issues. Most notably, players have been experiencing performance dips in single player and multiplayer. As the video after the break demonstrates, the game will stutter and periodically freeze every few seconds, resulting in some undeserved deaths and undoubtedly a fair amount of rage (Destructoid pointed out similar issues in its review of the title).

The issue appears to stem from a memory problem, with users reporting that Black Ops often hogs up much more CPU than is necessary, even climbing as high as 100 percent according to some users. According to Treyarch's David Vonderhaar, the company is aware of the problem, though he offered no further details on a potential fix. Additionally, GameServers.com, which provides dedicated servers for the game, has stated on its forums that the lag is related to an internal game bug and that Treyarch is "looking into it."

We've contacted Treyarch and will update as soon as we hear anything.

According to Activision's early "internal estimates," this week's launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops is the series' largest -- financially speaking -- of all time, accruing $360 million in sales thus far between the United States and the United Kingdom. Accounting for all that money is an approximate 5.6 million copies landing in customers' hands solely on November 9, compared with 4.7 million moved during last year's Modern Warfare 2 launch.

In case you needed further proof that the vast majority of the millions of Call of Duty players out there don't have any idea about that whole Infinity Ward debacle, or don't have any hangups over which studio makes the year's CoD, here it is.

According to Activision's early "internal estimates," this week's launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops is the series' largest -- financially speaking -- of all time, accruing $360 million in sales thus far between the United States and the United Kingdom. Accounting for all that money is an approximate 5.6 million copies landing in customers' hands solely on November 9, compared with 4.7 million moved during last year's Modern Warfare 2 launch.

In case you needed further proof that the vast majority of the millions of Call of Duty players out there don't have any idea about that whole Infinity Ward debacle, or don't have any hangups over which studio makes the next year's CoD, here you go.

New title becomes the biggest entertainment launch in history.

#numbers Call of Duty: Black Ops is not just a popular game. It's a very popular game. More popular than Modern Warfare 2 was one year ago, its creators said today. More »

#pressplay Enimen's "Won't Back Down" was the soundtrack to Black Ops' American trailer. While the hip-hop star has a following in The Land of the Rising Sun, the Japanese version gets homegrown talent. More »

#consolewar If you care deeply about pixel counts and frame rate—or are simply still on the fence about which console version of Call of Duty: Black Ops to buy—don't miss Digital Foundry's deep technical tear down of the Xbox 360 and PS3 releases. More »

#blackops David Voderhaar is not a happy guy. The design director for Call of Duty: Black Ops' multiplayer is busy dealing with the baffling lag problem in the PC version, so please stop "Twit-bombing" him with video of glitches and exploits. More »

Most players have yet to meet or don the required specs necessary to enjoy Call of Duty: Black Ops in 3D. The intended-to-immerse visual effect doesn't come for free, after all -- not even for the game itself. Joystiq came away impressed with developer Treyarch's implementation of the technology across three different platforms, but our commentary lacked the technical foundation you'll find in Eurogamer and Digital Foundry's latest minute inquiry.

According to Richard Leadbetter's thorough analysis (which also pits the Xbox 360 version against the PS3 rendition), Black Ops takes a significant performance hit when played in 3D on consoles. "Away from individual perceptions and back to the cold hard realities of performance and controller response, there's little doubt that 3D impacts the core experience of playing Black Ops. What you gain (or don't gain, depending on the individual's viewpoint) from the 3D effect you lose in terms of controller response and frame-rate," Leadbetter wrote, noting the severity of the drawbacks in a franchise praised for its smooth framerate and quick controls. "On both versions of the game there's often a sense that you're wading through treacle, almost as if you're battling the control scheme to get some semblance of the response you get from playing in 2D." (Note: Black Ops does not, as far as we know, include a level set in a malfunctioning sugar refinery.)

Despite the PlayStation 3 making a hard push for 3D adoption -- next year's Killzone 3 being one of the standout titles -- Leadbetter concluded that playability on Sony's console suffered the most. "We've logged the PS3 game running as low as 20FPS - and that's just in the very first street battle in the initial Cuba level."

This lack of parity between versions is a problem unique to 3D games -- film studios need only be concerned with how well a film plays with the audience, and not how well the audience plays it. However, as new technology gains wider acceptance, the tradeoffs should become less costly. We're bound to lose a few on the frontline first.

#roundup An elite force of soldiers that operates beyond the boundaries of any law. They are shadows, waiting for the perfect time to strike. They are the assembled video game critics, and this is the Call of Duty: Black Ops Frankenreview. More »

#activision Call of Duty: Black Ops is rubbing one nation the wrong way. Cuba's state-run media has blasted Activision's latest entry in the Call of Duty series as "doubly perverse" propaganda for a story arc involving former president Fidel Castro. More »

#activision Call of Duty: Black Ops is rubbing one nation the wrong way. Cuba's state-run media has blasted Activision's latest entry in the Call of Duty series as "doubly perverse" propaganda for a story arc involving former president Fidel Castro. More »

#remembranceday Vietnam veteran and East Kildonan, Winnipeg resident Ron Parkes is angry, and Activision is to blame. The Vietnam veteran accuses the company of purposefully releasing Call of Duty: Black Ops to coincide with Remembrance Day. More »

#clips I loved Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Xbox 360. I assume the PS3 version is just as great. More »

Due to an error on Activision's part, any female Xbox Live Avatar can be outfitted in some Call of Duty: Black Ops virtual gear free of charge. Having only printed codes for male Avatar gear inside of the Hardened and Prestige edition packages, the publisher had to quickly create two universal codes for female gear, allowing any account with a female Avatar to nab the two outfits -- with the right codes. Thankfully, a CAG user has shared these codes with the rest of the world. (Those bears would be so proud!)

By inputting the code GYVF8-PF7RY-28D7V-VGWV8-CFGRM into your Xbox (or online), you can snag the "SR 71 Flight Suit"; while inputting R76BQ-CR3MF-G2TTF-9G36R-BQWJD will net you a "Woods Outfit." The duds aren't available through the Marketplace otherwise, so sorry ladies, you can't try them on first -- but, hey, beggars can't be choosers!

[Thanks, David from Berkeley]

Proof that zombies make everything better.

#gameface Monica Davis of Nevada gets up close and personal with a military-style fast attack vehicle on display at the Call of Duty: Black Ops midnight launch at a North Las Vegas GameStop. More »

Activision looking to repeat success.

A new entry in the Call of Duty franchise is like a large cauldron of rich, hearty stew -- everyone's going to find something different to say about it. Whether it's comments on the complex flavor of the broth, the freshness of the vegetables, or the depth of the zombified multiplayer component, no two reviews could possibly be the same. This metaphor went off the rails very, very quickly.

Anyway, now that you've read our review of Call of Duty: Black Ops, why not see what the rest of the peanut gallery has to say?

• GamePro (5/5 Stars): "The good news is that the game is absolutely worth the investment, and even if you find yourself disagreeing with some of the changes Treyarch instituted or you run into a bunch of morons who are hell bent on ruining a particular mode for you, you have plenty of other options to keep you engaged for a good long time."
• GameTrailers (9.3/10): "Treyarch has closed the gap between its games and the Modern Warfare franchise with boundless customization, a keen sense of what makes the formula a success, and listening to fans."
• 1UP (A-): "When examining this seventh (and therefore odd-numbered) Treyarch installment beside the studio's history, it's apparent that not only does Black Ops show how much Treyarch has grown as a developer, but that it's easily their best title yet."
• IGN (8.5/10): "Call of Duty: Black Ops is a great overall package that has a ton of content to enjoy. The multiplayer modes are largely based on what was established by Modern Warfare, but the twists that Treyarch throws in work well."
• Giant Bomb (4/5 Stars): "Do you want to play more Call of Duty? I'm guessing the answer is yes, and by all means, Black Ops is worth playing. But for all its ambitious steps to set itself apart from the previous games, it flounders in a few too many of those areas to be a total success."

A portion of the ONM review… Black Ops on Wii is a fantastic shooter packed with all the features of its HD brothers, with the only exception being split-screen multiplayer. + Incredible online multiplayer + Zombies mode is fun + Looks great for the Wii + Tight, customisable controls - No local [...]

#clips Call of Duty: Black Ops hit stores today, so if you haven't had a chance to check out the cornucopia of easter eggs found in the game's menu, you may want to give this video and story a pass. More »

#nsfw If you thought that Fallout: New Vegas unboxing was sexy, then you've not seen anything yet. A triumph of Call of Duty-themed manscaping awaits! More »

Hey, buddy -- how're you feeling? Perhaps a little fatigued, due to your late-night odyssey to your local games retailer to grab a hot and fresh copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops? According to GameStop merchandising senior VP Bob McKenzie, you probably did just that. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, McKenzie explained that he's "convinced it'll be the biggest launch that we've ever had, that the industry has ever seen."

McKenzie attributes his claim to the unprecedented number of pre-orders the game has pulled in, as well as a general consumer interest shown by GameStop shoppers. He added, "I think it's a loyal fanbase for the franchise and [Activision has] done a great job of really getting out in front of it and really making this an event." Yeah, like a gamer holiday! Thanksgunving! Gunnoween! Gunchristmas?

Dead Ops Arcade brings twin-stick shooter action to Activision's behemoth.

#clips First person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops is out. People are playing it. But just wait until they find the floating apple, then they won't. They'll be too busy being horrified for that. More »

#review Call of Duty: Black Ops slips players into the subterfuge, counter-espionage and abiding fear of the Cold War's international turmoil. It also serves as a polished, powerful link between the countless World War II games that came before it and the likely countless modern shooters that will come in its wake. More »

Maybe it's our competitive streak. Maybe it's the fact that we're constantly battling, over leaderboards and in deathmatches, that pushes us to compare one console against another, one franchise title against its peers, or even, as the industry has grown and matured, one developer's artistic creation against another's. Even when developers work in huge teams for years to craft a great experience, we're children of numbers and "less or greater than," of rankings and high scores and levels. Someone's got to win, and someone's got to lose.

Maybe it's only natural, then, that much of the discussion around Call of Duty of late falls into the question of whether Infinity Ward is a better studio than Treyarch, or whether megapublisher Activision can continue to have a successful series of games without Jason West and Vince Zampella. Our little community keeps asking, like some political zealot overcome with decision on the eve of an election: Are you with IW or Activision? Did you like WaW or CoD4? Will you like Black Ops more than MW2?

Our competitive nature is working against us here. The truth is that, in the latest two iterations of Call of Duty, we've gotten two great games. With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward brought us a cinematic, action-filled FPS combat title with a strong and lasting multiplayer element. And with Call of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch has done the same thing.