Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Message Board older than one year ago

As if there was any doubt.

Nintendo's Wii-exclusive platformer outsells both the PS3 and 360 versions of Modern Warfare 2 -- combined -- in December.

Activision is rolling in dough.

Was one of your goals for 2009 to give Activision a billion dollars? It may be a little late, but that's what you all, in aggregate, have done -- and that's only for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The publisher announced that Infinity Ward's mega-hit FPS just crossed the $1 billion threshold in sell-throughs. Which means, yes, that some of that billion went to retailers and not just Activision. The company reminded us that $550 million of those sales happened in the first five days, meaning that more than half of the game's total worldwide sales occurred right at launch. "There are only a handful of entertainment properties that have ever reached the $1 billion mark," Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, beneficiary of some of that one billion dollars you put into this game, said, "which illustrates the power of the Call of Duty franchise and mass appeal of this game."

Once more, we must throw another rumor into the gurgling vat of faint indications that Infinity Ward is planning a subscription-based MMO. This time 'round, Destructoid cites the wise council of anonymous "industry sources" that reportedly suggests that Infinity Ward is hiring developers from Sony Online Entertainment (and borrowing a few human resources from Blizzard) to work on the new project. Now, if these reports are accurate, there's no earthly way of knowing for certain if the project is an MMO, or whether or not it will even be based on the Call of Duty franchise. Then again, considering our current kill rank in Modern Warfare 2 is like 5,314,592, doesn't that mean Infinity Ward's already made an MMO? Food for thought, folks. Food for thought.

Fun fact: We like to describe the pacing of a game's action on a scale composed of Brass-centric Americana music standards. For example, the speed of Modern Warfare 2 is moderate, yet fairly steady. In other words, it's normally set to "Spanish Flea," by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Unfortunately, wily hackers have gotten their hands on the game once again, cranking that speed up a few dozen notches to Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax." Check out the video after the jump to see the hyperspeed gunfighting in action. We managed to get into one of these hacked games during a Headquarters match last night on Xbox Live, and while it may look like fun, it feels a lot like you're speed skating the entire time. As you might imagine, that makes shooting near-impossible -- but it makes the ever-whimsical "Sax" all the more appropriate. [Via Xbox 360 Digest]

Sure, Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer mode has already sucked you in, but just imagine what would happen if you added an invigorating soundtrack to all those bullet-soaked moments? Well, guess what: The game's soundtrack composer, Hans Zimmer, recently indicated in a Facebook note that the "soundtrack album is in the works." That's right -- soon you'll be able to take the orchestrated drama from the single-player campaign and import it into a looping death march beat. But hey, at least your folks will be glad you're listening to classical music, right? [Via GamePro; image credit: quintanomedia]

Following another week of tepid new releases (er, were there any releases at all?), and despite a 41-percent drop in sales, Modern Warfare 2 remained atop the UK all-formats sales chart for the week ending January 2. This marked the eighth straight week that Modern Warfare 2 led UK game sales, a feat unequaled since the gritty street sequel, Need for Speed: Underground 2, captured the British imagination five years ago. This week, Bayonetta gets her first shot at taking down the reigning champ. Additionally, Assassin's Creed II continued its rebound up the week's towering sales list, perched at the number two position, followed by a trio of casual Wii games. FIFA 10 dropped four spots into sixth place as weekly sales of the soccer sim "footie fax" fell 61 percent. Finally, UbiGaga's Just Dance made a fevered surge up to seventh on the chart, with New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart and Avatar rounding out the top ten. Can we get a "TAROK MAKTO!"? Source - Call of Duty Ends the Year on a High [GFK Chart-Track] Source - Latest UK Software Charts [GFK Chart-Track]

Though it's certainly not the sleekest handheld device we've ever seen -- in fact, it might be in the running for the unsleekest device ever created -- the latest project from a modder, nicknamed Techknott, boasts some pretty impressive capabilities. Basically, the handheld sends control signals to a PS3, which transmits video signals back to the device, allowing for nomadic sessions of Modern Warfare 2 (or any other PS3 game), as seen in the video after the jump. According to the modder's post on BenHeck.com, the device will soon be available for purchase. It certainly looks neat, but we're not sure the clunky controls will help you set any Spec Ops world records. Seriously, this guy's time on The Pit is garbage.

Last year, TorrentFreak awarded Spore the dubious title of Most Pirated Game of 2008 -- this year, the victor (by an overwhelming margin) is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to the torrent news site's calculations, the PC version of Infinity Ward's shooter was unscrupulously downloaded 4.1 million times. When combined with the 360 version of the game, that number tops five million. Looks like boycotts do work! And by "boycotts," we of course mean, "mankind's overwhelming desire to get things for free through easily accessible, barely regulated channels." [Via IGN]

PC titles most downloaded gaming software.

Here, on the eve of the eve of Video Game Gift Giving and Receiving Day (known in some cultures as "Christmas" or "Festivus") comes a heartfelt plea by the fine men and women of the Christian Civic League of Maine, who join us under a common banner of misusing semicolons to bring us this message; "All decent people should denounce the video game 'Modern Warfare 2;' and join in opposing the sale and use of such games." Yes, Modern Warfare 2's controversial "No Russian" mission -- erroneously titled the "Massacre Level" here -- has once again brought the full weight of the nation's outrage (represented here by the Christian Civic League of Maine). The group reminds us of the "well-established cause and effect relationship between video games and school shootings" and cautions that "the ready availability of drugs, violent video games, and outrageous rock music is a witch's brew which will eventually lead to tragedy here in Maine." Speaking of witches, GamePolitics points out that the group has outed the owner of a local book store as a witch (and a Democrat!) and claims she "cast a spell" on the Administrator of the League. Merry Christmas! [Via GamePolitics]

For the last week or so, the Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer experience has been plagued by a number of issues, across all platforms. Those issues have been targeted by a new patch, which Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling states has gone live on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Among the issues addressed are those nasty infinity ammo and Public "private" match issues on the Xbox 360 version, the Prestige hack on PS3 and the texture hack on PC. Also, the 1887 has been balanced on all platforms -- now, you might actually stand a chance against an opponent wielding two of those. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

But Square Enix published FPS not enough to fight off New Super Mario Bros.

New patch to help rid servers of unlimited ammo glitches, amongst others.

This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and - before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside - we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Vince Zampella and Jason West from Infinity Ward about Modern Warfare 2. So what do you all think about Medal of Honor going Modern Warfare? Vince Zampella: Eh, good for them! You're not saying, "Hey, this is our territory." Vince: Nah. Since the game shipped a month ago, Infinity Ward has been squashing bugs and reading feedback. Vince: Absolutely. The benefit of making a game that all of our guys love to play is that all of our guys are playing it, and they're running into the same problems that any other player is, so we want to get that stuff fixed as soon as possible. Jason West: Yeah, the studio has been shut down for all of December, but these guys are playing the game and they want to come in on their own time to fix it and patch it. Considering that they're all on vacation, the responsiveness of the team has been pretty awesome. [Note: based on the new unlimited ammo glitch, they still have some work to do. Unless there's a Christmas miracle] Has anything really surprised you with multiplayer? Vince: Well, yeah .. the Javelin thing, obviously [laughs]. Just the fact that somebody picked that out. Jason: And the infinite Care Package one is pretty impressive, I mean you have to do this, do that and ... Vince: I could see you accidentally doing it, but then how do you figure out how to go back and replicate it? That's crazy. So if there's a Modern Warfare 3, what can you possibly pack in to top the Night Vision Goggles? Vince: This time we'll have a version that comes with a complete tank. Jason: Yeah, or a full-sized Ghillie suit would be awesome, too.

It's no secret that the Xbox 360 received the lion's share of Modern Warfare 2 purchases during last month's retail blitz and Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg certainly knows it, telling us not too long ago that it was the "best November ever" for the console. So when G4TV recently asked Greenberg how a theoretical November 2009 without Modern Warfare 2 launching would have looked for the company in terms of console sales, we weren't shocked to see the Xbox exec say, "November without Modern Warfare 2 would have looked very different." Besides the MW2-branded Xbox 360's affect on overall console sales ("hundreds of thousands," he claims), Greenberg guesses "we would have probably sold less consoles ... to be honest." In his eyes, MW2's launch was "an event" that convinced consumers to purchase the game over not just other games, but also over "buying an iPod or instead of going to a movie." Considering the game got its own branded drink -- though not the branded drink -- we think it's clear that the game has nearly reached Independence Day status.

Though the Modern Warfare 2 community is uncovering some unsavory hidden aspects of the game for their own benefit, the kind folks from Defend The House have labored to uncover some of the game's harmless (but awesome) unadvertised features. For instance, did you know throwing knives are still lethal after bouncing? Also, you can survive a forty-foot fall with the help of a few well-placed mattresses. That's news to us! Check out all these revelations in the first episode of Modern Warfare 2 Mythbusters, which we've posted after the jump. Oh, one last thing -- we will not rest until we kill someone by blowing up a nearby fire hydrant. Do you hear us? It is our life's new purpose.

Modern Warfare 2 cleans up.

Developer patching things up. Again.

With plenty of actual controversy surrounding Modern Warfare 2, the issues of colorblind gamers seem a relatively innocent (and common) oversight. An ongoing petition and Facebook group is requesting a patch for the game. According to the petition, those with a particular type of red/green color blindness "cannot tell friend from foe in the online matches, as their names appear in these colors, and the radar uses the colors too." Infinity Ward's community manager has acknowledged that he will bring up the concern to the team. Our very own red/green color blind Ben Gilbert, who doesn't have a particular issue with MW2's spectrum decisions, noted, "I can think of about 20 other games that need a solution for this before MW2. How about every puzzle game ever made that depends on color matching -- I'm looking at you especially, Super Puzzle Fighter, you heart breaker." Considering color blindness is relatively common, especially among males, it's surprising that it isn't tested for more regularly. Any QA folks who can give better insight into whether color blindness is tested for (and how) should feel free to drop a note in the comments. [Via Escapist, Evil Avatar]

Now that the exploding men and unrelenting rain of crates have been taken care of, it would seem a new issue has arisen in Modern Warfare 2. Specifically, a bug in the Xbox Live matchmaking assignments is reportedly dumping playlist searchers into private matches. (Nothing's worse than being teamed with the lowest ranking players, after all.) Penny Arcade's Gabe tweeted (warning: foul language through link) that he had encountered the issue several times. Meanwhile, Infinity Ward's man in the trenches, Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling, confirmed the issue is known and that a fix is currently in the works. [Via Gaming Union] Source - cwgabriel [Twitter] (NSFW) Source - Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling [Twitter]

It's safe to go back into the water

Huzzah! No more of your intense Headquarters Pro matches will be interrupted by gargantuan, killer shockwaves expelled by morally dubious combatants. That is to say, Modern Warfare 2's Javelin glitch, which enabled a dirty, cheating player to instantly detonate upon death, was fixed earlier this morning by a patch for the Xbox 360 version of the game. According to a recent tweet from Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, the PS3 version of the game has already received the patch. In addition to removing the Javelin's unadvertised self-immolation feature, the patch also fixes the equally insidious "unlimited care packages" glitch, and fixes a few areas where players could exploit gaps in the game's geography. In a perfect world, Infinity Ward would have also sent parcels to the houses of anyone who leveraged these exploits -- parcels full of bees. The bad kind. The kind you see on the Discovery Channel. The ones that can kill a full-grown elephant with a surprisingly small swarm.

Even Halo has to make way.

Let's do this. Murder, fantasy, and foreign affairs.

Using GamerDNA results as a guideline, DFC Intelligence charted the popularity of 360 games last month, and there are some interesting revelations. For one: Every person alive or dead, including the author of this post, is playing Modern Warfare 2 as we speak. Okay, so that's a slight exaggeration but it was very popular, with somewhere between 22 and 17 percent of GamerDNA's Xbox 360-playing subjects playing the game throughout all of November. Also somewhat surprising is just how well Borderlands - which, let's be honest, didn't have the biggest marketing push - did, handily holding on to second place until the release of Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassin's Creed 2. Admittedly this list doesn't reflect the time spent by those who aren't online, but do you seriously care about those commoners anyway?

In one day, the NPD Group will release its game sales report for the month of November, which should reveal the (near) exact number of units Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has sold in the US thus far. In the meantime, Gamespot reported on two analysts who have predicted the portion of November software sales that were made up of Warfare purchases. Industry analyst superstar Michael Pachter says the game accounts for 23 percent of total game sales. However, Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson has it pegged at 25 percent of total November sales. Wilson added that this feat is made especially impressive due to his firm's prediction that "this November's sales will match the month's highest historical total on record." In related news, news stories dealing with Modern Warfare 2 composed 67.2 percent of all news stories over the past month. Oh, wait -- now it's 67.5 percent!