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Activision establishing 'Call of Duty Endowment,' donating $1 million to war veteran aid

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 9th 2009 at 12:00PM }

On the eve of Modern Warfare 2's official release, the game's publisher has announced intentions to donate $1 million to veteran-related charities through a newly created foundation. The "Call of Duty Endowment" (or simply "CODE") is said to "support other groups that assist veterans with their careers," reports the Washington Post.

Though he's mostly known for facepalm-inducing hard business quotes, Activision head Bobby Kotick thoughtfully commented, "How do you expect people to actually join the military if when they leave the military they can't integrate back into the free market they're supposed to be protecting? The joblessness rate that [veterans] should have should be far less than the national average, not more." The foundation's first donation will be for $125,000 to the Paralyzed Veterans of America and will go towards the opening of a vocational rehabilitation center.

For the UK's best Modern Warfare 2 deal, head to the grocery store

by JC Fletcher { Nov 9th 2009 at 9:30AM }

Grocery stores aren't typically known for great video game deals -- we can't remember any notable supermarket game purchases since our local Albertson's cleared out its NES rentals. But Sainsbury supermarkets in the UK have an offer worth noting: the retailer has cut the price of Modern Warfare 2 to just £26 ($43.76), an amazing £29 off the regular price.

Tesco is also offering a big price cut on Modern Warfare 2: it's £25 with the purchase of another bestselling game (The Guardian specifies "top-20" games), or £39.70 on its own. Tescos, which are open all the time anyway, will begin selling the game at midnight tonight, as will five Sainsbury's locations. Unless they're like stores in the US, in which case they began selling them last week.

Select GameStops in NY, OH and PA selling Modern Warfare 2 already [Update: Activision responds]

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 8th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Update: Activision shot us an email to point out that "Activision has not given any retailer permission to sell Modern Warfare 2 prior to the Nov. 10 street date. The company fully supports the Nov.10 street date." It seems that a whole mess of folks are breaking street date and selling the game early. If you snagged a copy already, enjoy!

Poor, poor GameStop. As the gaming public's anticipation for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 approached critical mass, they faltered in their loyalty, and took their business to small "mom and pop" game retailers who had broken the game's street date. Fortunately for the retail juggernaut, Activision showed compassion for its plight, and agreed to let certain GameStops in a few Northeast states start selling the game before Tuesday in order to help combat these vicious local businesses.

We've been receiving tips all morning from folks living in New York and Pennsylvania (and Kotaku reports Ohio as well) stating that they were able to find the game on sale at their local GameStop. If you live in one of those Northeastern states, you might want to go ahead and call your local 'Stop to see if it's one of the stores which was granted special permission. If it is, then you can go straight to hell, you lucky jerk.

Activision catches both pirates and thieves in Modern Warfare 2 investigation

by JC Fletcher { Nov 6th 2009 at 9:00PM }

While it might be tempting to go straight to Craigslist with those Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundles you stole, it turns out that Activision notices exciting, high-profile offers just like your potential customers might. VentureBeat reports that when Activision noticed a listing for one of the bundles last Thursday, the company hired a private investigation firm, IPCyberCrime.com, to track down the seller.

When IPCyberCrime found the person behind the sale, the investigator discovered that he was an employee at a retailer, who, with friends, had stolen the bundles to sell on Craigslist. The sellers were turned over to the store's loss prevention department.

That bust led to one of the prospective buyers, named Christian Del Amo, who was raising money on a forum to buy the bundle (allegedly) for the purpose of copying the game and selling the copies, along with other pirated games, on hard drives. IPCyberCrime turned that case over to the Miami-Dade Police Department, who arrested Del Amo.

Obviously, this demonstrates one reason (aside from the whole morality thing) why you shouldn't try to make a business of selling pirated games. Activision has enough money to hire a private investigator, and is not afraid to use it.

Modern Warfare 2 refused by digital distribution retailers; Steamworks to blame

by JC Fletcher { Nov 6th 2009 at 9:22AM }

PC gamers aren't the only ones angry about the way Modern Warfare 2 is shaping up. PC retailers, starting with IGN's Direct2Drive download service, have made the bold move to leave piles of money on the table by refusing to sell it. It's not in protest of the dedicated server issue or the multiplayer cap, but rather the fact that the game relies on Steamworks for updates, saving and Achievements; and Direct2Drive isn't thrilled about selling a game that requires the bundling of a competitor's product.

"At Direct2Drive," the statement on what would be the Modern Warfare 2 product page reads, "we believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased." The site offers an Amazon link to purchase the game, and a $5 coupon for other Activision titles on Direct2Drive.

Impulse and GamersGate won't be offering the Modern Warfare 2 either. Impulse tells VE3D that "the most obvious issue is the forced inclusion of a competitor's store that blocks us from carrying the game."

[Via Gamasutra]

Modern Warfare 2 limited to 9 vs. 9 on PC

by Justin McElroy { Nov 5th 2009 at 7:40PM }

Poor PC gamers. First they hear the soul-crushing news that Modern Warfare 2 won't support dedicated servers, and now Infinity Ward has broken their hearts yet again. During a Best Buy online chat, the developer fired off a string of bad news, affirming a 9-vs-9 player limit, the inability to kick players from ranked matches and a lack of console commands. Ars Technica has laid out the full list of disappointments, if you've got the stomach for it.

We feel for those of you on the PC side, but largely because you haven't yet had your spirits broken like your console brethren. We don't even notice having our dreams shattered any more (in fact, truth be told, we think we're starting to like it).

Watch: The Modern Warfare 2 launch trailer, as seen on TV

by Christopher Grant { Nov 4th 2009 at 10:30PM }

For some reason, Activision is intent on blowing cash on Modern Warfare 2 advertisements, despite record pre-order numbers, and anticipated record-breaking sales. At this point, tossing out slick television commercials – like the one you see above, showing some more fightin' on American soil – just seems like kicking everyone's wallets while they're down. We've already got the game pre-ordered! We can't pre-order it anymore! Uncle!

Modern Warfare 2 Avatar gear coming to Live tomorrow

by Xav de Matos { Nov 4th 2009 at 8:01PM }

Are your Avatars ill-equipped to raid a terrorist safe house? Well, good news: Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling (aka fourzerotwo) revealed Modern Warfare 2 gear will soon be available for players to purchase on Xbox Live's Avatar Marketplace.

Revealed in a recent Tweet, Bowling stated that Infinity Ward will upload the content to Xbox Live tomorrow -- which includes the Ghost outfit pictured above. In an email to Joystiq, Bowling confirmed the content will be made available for purchase tomorrow. Until then, we'll sleep soundly knowing that the Avatar world will soon be safe from terrorist scum.

[Thanks, B. Marriner]

Hans Zimmer believes in the legitimacy of games, approached MW2 as a 'novice'

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 4th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Hans Zimmer may have a laundry list of feature films he contributed to on his resume, but the renowned film composer says he still had to approach his work on Modern Warfare 2 "truly as a novice." In an interview with USA Today, he speaks like a true convert. When asked about the legitimacy of games as an art form, he frankly states, "Absolutely, that we can't even question anymore."

Zimmer says his first experience working on a game has, unsurprisingly, been very different than working on a film. "I had never done this before, so it was nice to sort of go at it a little fresh." Due to the length of major video games (even the shorter ones), Zimmer was forced to create considerably more music than the average project. "I never added it up [because] then I would have panicked," he admits. Looks like that "ridiculous" budget was good for something!

DICE receives fan letter in thanks of Bad Company 2 dedicated servers

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 4th 2009 at 10:15AM }

Edward

of New Jersey was so happy with DICE's decision to support dedicated servers for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 that he sent the company a $60 check. Although it's pretty hard to look up the

family of New Jersey to ask Eddie why he sent the money, we'll guess it had something to do with Infinity Ward's decision to not allow dedicated PC servers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

As for what DICE plans to spend the money on, Battlefield Producer Gordon Van Dyke gave no indications. Some Battlefield 1943 maps would be nice. The intern could probably get it done for $60, right?

Amazon ranks Call of Duty-est towns in America, large dining utensils in the lead

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 4th 2009 at 2:00AM }

Grand Forks, North Dakota is a small city with a population just over 51,000 -- a large portion of which are students at the University of North Dakota -- that's tucked within a much larger rural portion of the state. It's not the first city to come to mind when you think of prestigious national honors in the technology sector. However, according to online retailer Amazon, which has been vigilantly tracking the geographic location of Modern Warfare 2 pre-orderers, it's currently the Call of Duty-est town in America.

Amazon will continue to rank American cities based on per capita Modern Warfare 2 pre-orders until the game is released, and has agreed to ship a $5,000 gift card to a charity of its choosing which serves the winning town. We hope Grand Forks manages to hold its top position in the rankings, if only because it desperately needs something to put on its city limits signs. You know, something more inspiring than "Welcome to Grand Forks: We've Got a Pretty Good College, Here, We Guess."

Initial Modern Warfare 2 budget was 'ridiculous'

by David Hinkle { Nov 3rd 2009 at 7:30PM }

During an interview with Develop, Infinity Ward's front-line man, Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling, recalled the early planning stages of Modern Warfare 2. Unsurprisingly, publisher and owner Activision was eager to pour money into the development of the COD4 sequel, following the basic business formula: more money = better product = more sales = more money. Infinity Ward followed another school of thought: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"Much like we don't let ourselves get distracted by hype, if you have excess you feel like you should use excess," Bowling said. Even though Activision "estimated out a ridiculous budget" early on, Infinity Ward "didn't let the budget affect [its] mentality." Since Infinity Ward apparently didn't take the money (or, at least, all of it), we do have a pretty good idea of what Activision spent it on: night-vision goggles for everyone!

Modern Warfare 2 is GameStop's most pre-ordered game ever

by Justin McElroy { Nov 3rd 2009 at 11:20AM }

Some may have been up in arms about arguably disturbing material and unarguably juvenile advertising in and for Modern Warfare 2, but it doesn't seem to be showing any signs of stifling anticipation for the game. In fact, GameStop told Game Hunters that Infinity Ward's baby is the most pre-ordered title in the company's history. Like ... ever. GameStop VP Tony Bartel told the site, "As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we've taken for the game is the highest for any title we've ever sold in our 6,200 store network."

So feel free to grouse all you want, but unless Activision replaces the FPS gameplay with first-person putting puppies into a wood chipper and renames it Osama bin Laden Pushes Jesus Christ Down a Flight of Stairs Made of Baby Skulls, we're not sure there's any amount of controversy that's going to slow Modern Warfare 2 down.

Rumor: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer disables Xbox Live party chat

by Xav de Matos { Nov 2nd 2009 at 8:00PM }

If rumors circulating around NeoGAF prove true, Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward won't be allowing the use of the Xbox 360's party chat feature during ranked multiplayer playlists in its upcoming title. Since a distinction in the post is made between different styles of online matches (ranked and social), we presume the function will not be utilized throughout all of Modern Warfare 2's online playlists.

Speaking with Joystiq, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling said the company "can't comment on leaks," and was unable to confirm if the feature will, in fact, be disabled. "Players should reserve judgment until they get a chance to experience it for themselves on November 10 instead of viewing it out of context," Bowling added. Have an opinion on the matter? Sound off in the comments.

[Image Source: BL4CK HAWK 8]

Custom Modern Warfare 2 Xbox is riddled with bullets

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 2nd 2009 at 12:45PM }

Don't worry, no one actually shot an Xbox. No, this box was decoratively riddled with bullets. Specifically, notice that the face buttons on the controller as well as the buttons on the console are actually bullet shell casings. And let's not forget the custom Modern Warfare 2 artwork on the side, which is back-lit by LEDs inside the case. In short, it's a pretty nice mod. It was created by one Mr. Tornado and is featured at ModernWarfare2Forums.net. As you might expect, it's up for auction on eBay, and the bid is already over $200.

We think it would look great with the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2 and, let's face it, if you can afford one of those, then snatching up this Xbox should be chump change. Hit the source link for more pictures.