Posted 11/19/09 at 01:36:54 AM by Nathan Grayson

Of all the crimes Activision could be accused of, extreme restraint isn’t one of them. If a property in its stable of games fattens its way into bonafide cash cow territory, you can bet that Activision will milk it bone-dry. But if you’ve ever tried chugging an entire gallon of milk, you know that people’s tolerance for the stuff is a bit lacking. Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero are already facing diminishing returns from consumer fatigue, and at this rate, it won’t be long before Call of Duty wears out its welcome – especially if yet another developer hops aboard Activision’s favorite money train.

The LA Times, however, is reporting just that. “Although Infinity Ward and Treyarch have produced sequels in alternating years since 2005, the publisher now has a third development studio working on future versions,” read the publication’s article on Modern Warfare 2’s launch.

As for this third mystery developer’s purpose, little is known. Speculation says that the series newcomer could be digging the development trenches on a Call of Duty MMO – something Activision boss Bobby Kotick has expressed interest in on multiple occasions. Or maybe Call of Duty: World at War’s ever-popular Nazi Zombies are finally getting their own game. We really have no idea.

Or – and this is crazy, but work with us here – maybe, after nearly a decade of working on the same series, Infinity Ward is ready to move on to greener pastures, and Activision’s called in a new team to pick up where the Call of Duty creator left off.

Naaaaah.

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Posted 11/18/09 at 01:46:08 AM by Nathan Grayson

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Posted 11/07/09 at 02:26:28 AM by Nathan Grayson

Well, we now have absolute proof that at least one member of the PC gaming community wasn’t living in the hornets’ nest Infinity Ward stepped on when it announced that Modern Warfare 2 won’t support dedicated servers. Unfortunately, that one person is none other than id Software’s John Carmack.

“It’s not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don’t think [RAGE] will have dedicated servers,” Carmack told Variety’s Cut Scene blog. “The great thing is we won’t have to be a pioneer on that. We’ll see how it works out for everyone else.”

If it’s any consolation, RAGE is primarily a single-player game. But then, knowing id, we imagine that the game’s multiplayer component will still be better than most.

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?

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Posted 11/05/09 at 01:33:22 AM by Nathan Grayson

When it rains, it pours. And for a game that was – a mere few weeks ago – a sure bet for nearly ever gamer on the face of the planet, the storm’s only getting bigger. See, if you’re used to the deafening chaos of Modern Warfare 1’s 32-man skirmishes, Modern Warfare 2 might strike you as a tad barren. Why? Infinity Ward’s Mackey McCandlish explained in a chat with the Best Buy community:

“The max number of players on all platforms are 1v1 through 9v9. This is the number of players we focused on when we were balancing map size, perks, classes, challenges, etc.”

Unfortunately, it would appear that nothing short of a Jedi Mind Trick will sway Infinity Ward from its current course of action. Not even a 178,000-signature petition. Infinity Ward’s Vince Zampella joined McCandlish in shooting down PC gamers’ final push.
 
“All I can say is that we changed it to make it a better and easier experience. Also, not all of the names on that list are legit,” said Zampella.

“402 signed it 4 times I heard,” McCandlish chimed in.

Hey readers, you guys wouldn't happen to know any Jedi, would you?

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Posted 10/22/09 at 12:40:46 AM by Nathan Grayson

Not too keen on Infinity Ward’s announcement that dedicated servers won’t be supported by Modern Warfare 2? Well, you’re not the only one. But wait! Before you go back to boycotting the game as hard as you can, consider the following:

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is actually the biggest investment Infinity Ward has ever made into the PC version of our games. It’s also the most feature-rich PC version we’ve ever made. IWNET takes the benefits of dedicated servers and allows them to be utilized and accessed by every player, out of the box, while removing the barrier to entry for players unaware of how to maintain a server on their own,” said Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling.

“With IWNET matchmaking, it takes all that into account for you. All you have to do is select the playlist (pre-set gametypes with custom rules) that fits the style of play you are in the mood for. When you do, it will automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same SKILL.”

He also explained that aim-bots, wallhacks, and other species of cheater will be all but eradicated by Valve’s anti-cheat system.

Definitely click through the link and check out Robert Bowling’s full post on the subject. If nothing else, it shows that Infinity Ward's heart is in the right place -- even if its methods leave something to be desired.

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Posted 10/20/09 at 01:18:13 AM by Nathan Grayson

Say it ain’t so, Infinity Ward. Say you didn’t announce IWNet, a proprietary multiplayer platform for Modern Wafare 2 that makes PC gaming more accessible at the cost of dedicated servers and maybe even modded maps!

“You’re completely reliant on IWNet and there is no dedicated server or server list. You rely on IWNet for matchmaking and your games, but you still have your private matches,” Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling said.

D’oh!

Now look, Infinity Ward, we can still be reasonable about this. No need to light the very short fuse on, say, an Internet petition or something like that.

D’oh!

The petition – which was planted in the Internet’s fertile soils yesterday – has already ballooned up to 85,437 signatures. In one day. Based on this, here's a bit of advice, Activision: Stop trying to make off with everything PC gamers hold dear. We kind of like having those things around.

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Posted 10/06/09 at 10:56:25 PM by Nathan Grayson

Activision’s about to declare war on gamers’ wallets with Modern Warfare 2, and we imagine Bobby Kotick and co. couldn’t be happier. However, according to Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward, Activision wasn’t always so gung-ho about pulling the series out of World War II.

“With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War 2," Infinity Ward boss Vince Zampella said, "but Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that we'd get some dev kits for consoles in exchange for doing a World War 2 game.”

"And something I'll add to that, Activision also did not want Modern Warfare. They thought working on a modern game was risky and [thought], 'oh my god you can't do that, it's crazy!' They were doing market research to show us we were wrong the whole time," he explained.

As of last count, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sold over 14 million copies.

Bobby, if we were in your shoes, we’d hire Infinity Ward not only as a consultant for Activision as a whole, but as our own personal life counselor. We’d also donate a few million dollars to Future’s Maximum PC publication, with the stipulation that 40% of it is to land in the pockets of a blogger named “Nathan Grayson.”

Just trust us on this one.   

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Posted 09/29/09 at 01:20:17 AM by Nathan Grayson

Want to try Modern Warfare 2 before you – let’s face it -- inevitably buy it? Well, too bad. Infinity Ward’s too deep in the development trenches to pop its head up and toss out a demo. So said the developer in a recent tweet:

“No plan for a Demo before launch. The entire team is focused on polish all the way up to ship of the full game,” explained Infinity Ward.

As disappointing as this announcement is, it makes sense. Modern Warfare 2 is set to sell something in the realm of 6.7 billion units, so we don’t imagine too many people are on the fence about purchasing it. And what are a few days of pre-release playtime when you’ll probably be addicted to the game for the next year?    

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