Modern Warfare 2 Promises Breakthrough Cure for ‘Mapathy’ [Dlc]
March 9th, 2010
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Posts Tagged ‘call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2’
First Modern Warfare 2 map pack coming to Xbox Live on March 30
March 9th, 2010
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People afflicted with mapathy, your cure is on the way. PS3 owners ... well, you'll have to suffer a bit longer. Have you spoken to your FAMAS-ist about a prescription?
[Thanks, Legion!]
First Modern Warfare 2 map pack coming to Xbox Live on March 30 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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See Modern Warfare's "No Russian" Like You've Never Seen It Before [Clips]
March 8th, 2010
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Michael Barnes is the man to thank for this incredible piece of Modern Warfare 2 machinima, which recreates the game's controversial "No Russian" mission in a manner fit for prime-time TV.
What you're seeing here is almost entirely in-game action from the PC version of the game. What Barnes has done is record it from different camera angles than the game's standard first-person perspective, then cut it together to look like a movie or TV show.
The results are a lot more exciting than the actual mission turned out to be.
WARNING: The clip below contains violent content, so don't go watching it at work.
Modern Warfare 2 - No Russian Machinima [YouTube]
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Rumored ‘Modern Warfare 2′ Map Pack Screens Leak
March 5th, 2010
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Whether you want to call it an "expansion," a "map pack" or just "DLC," some images and video from purported unreleased "Modern Warfare 2" content showed up on the Internet this week, and they look legit. Depending on how things go in court, these shots could represent the last "Call of Duty" content ever created under the oversight of former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella.
The new map pack includes three new areas and two re-purposed ones from "Call of Duty 4," according to The Tech Game and GHETTOMAN1, whose name appears in the Vimeo video capture credits. Given that Activision has already had the YouTube footage taken down, however, it can only be a matter of time before they move to knock down what's left on the site.
The fact that the company moved so quickly suggests that we're probably looking at the real thing -- or at least a preliminary version of the content slated for release this spring on the Xbox 360 and 30 days later on the PS3. Hopefully the release goes smoothly with the legal firestorm ensuing right now around Activision and Infinity Award.
Did you get a glimpse of the "Stimulus Package" footage? Do you think it's real? Sound off in the comment section below.
Tags: activision, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2, Infinity Ward, NEWS, PS3, stimulus-package, Xbox 360Related posts
Activision/Infinity Ward court documents detail ex-studio heads’ many, many complaints
March 5th, 2010
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Beyond a statement released by ex-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella's lawyer yesterday detailing the lawsuit the two are filing against Activision, we've seen little in the way of back history on the various events that lead us to the debacle we're seeing this week. This morning, though, Joystiq obtained the entire 16-page court document (gallery-ized below for you) that details, among many other things, the ex-employees' complaints about Activision in the wake of their untimely departure.
The initial claim of unpaid royalties is represented in the documents, even going as far as to claim that the publisher fired West and Zampella just weeks before having to pay out said royalties. "Activision fired them in hope that by doing so, it could avoid paying them what they had rightfully earned, and to seize control of the Infinity Ward studio, to which Activision had previously granted creative control over all Modern Warfare branded games," the document reads. In the history lesson portion of the complaint, it's revealed that Activision allegedly purchased the studio for just $5 million originally (in two different chunks), and the Call of Duty franchise (including Treyarch-developed titles) has earned over $3 billion since 2003.
Finally, the complaint claims that, before Infinity Ward agreed to develop Modern Warfare 2, the then-studio heads "were not eager to extend their employment" as Activision had apparently begun demanding a more constant development pace at the studio. "Despite assurances by Activision that West and Zampella would have complete freedom to run Infinity Ward as an independent studio, Activision had begun to intrude upon Infinity Ward's ability to create quality games. For example, Activision forced Infinity Ward's employees to continue producing the games at a breakneck pace under aggressive schedules, and West and Zampella were concerned that Activision was emphasizing quantity over quality."
Regardless of the veracity of these allegations, it would certainly appear that the gloves have come all the way off. We'll have a more thorough breakdown of the entire document later today, but for now you can see it in its entirety below.
Activision/Infinity Ward court documents detail ex-studio heads' many, many complaints originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Former ‘Modern Warfare 2′ Devs Sue Activision
March 4th, 2010
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The two recently-ousted studio heads of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella, have filed a lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract. The pair, who were fired earlier this week after claims of insubordination, are stating that Activision was scheduled to pay them significant royalty payments and terminated them before those payments would go into effect.
In a statement, the attorney for West and Zampella, Robert Schwartz, said the following:
"Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."
Apart from financial restitution, West and Zampella are also suing for control over the "Modern Warfare" brand.
It's highly doubtful that this case will ever get to trial, and Activision isn't giving up one of their most lucrative franchises anytime soon. Likely that the case will settle out of court and Activision will help fund West and Zampella's next development house and project.
Tags: activision, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2, Infinity WardRelated posts
Infinity Ward Still "Central To Call Of Duty's Future" [Call Of Duty]
March 2nd, 2010
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While something rotten has definitely gone down between publishers Activision and the bossmen of Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward, it seems the studio itself is still a key part of the franchise moving forward.
An internal memo distributed to members of Infinity Ward earlier today says that while the "brains" of the operation, Vince Zampella and Jason West are out, "Infinity Ward remains central to Call of Duty's future and we rely on the combined talent, expertise and leadership of the team there for its success."
That'll sound good to investors today, but really, how much is it going to mean going forward? Decapitate one of the most successful development studios in the world and you eliminate a lot of its worth. You also run the risk of a mass exodus of talent, as other key personnel involved in the Call of Duty series leave Infinity Ward and follow Zampella and West, just like they did eight years ago when they split from 2015.
Leaving Activision with, well...look, how many times have you heard from 2015 since the big Medal of Honor split?
Exactly.
Internal Activision Memo Says Infinity Ward "Central To Call Of Duty's Future" [G4]
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Infinity Ward Studio Head Sacked By Activision, Cites Insubordination
March 2nd, 2010
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According to a report on G4, two studio heads of Infinity Ward (the developer of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2") have been unseen by staff since a meeting with Activision yesterday. Some time later one of the studio heads, Jason West, updated his LinkedIn profile, listing his time at Infinity Ward as past tense:
President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)
Activision has since revealed that West is no longer with the company.
Meanwhile, an SEC filing made by Activision yesterday cites: "breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward." The second senior employee is likely Vince Zampella, who has also not been heard from since yesterday. His current employment status is unknown.
It's unknown what set all this off or what it means for the future of Infinity Ward working on the "Call of Duty" franchise. I've reached out to Activision and Infinity Ward to get some clarification.
Tags: activision, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2, Infinity Ward, NEWS, PC, PS3, Xbox 360Related posts
Rumor: Activision ousts Infinity Ward studio heads
March 2nd, 2010
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Bouncers showing up in late in the evening to bar people from offices? Only one source for the story? We were ready to chalk it up as a publicity stunt, possibly as a lead-in for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DLC, or possibly some unannounced game. But information keeps coming in, and unless an Activision SEC filing was made in error, some big changes are coming for the Activision-owned FPS developer.
Continue reading Rumor: Activision ousts Infinity Ward studio heads
Rumor: Activision ousts Infinity Ward studio heads originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Déjà Vu Surrounds Infinity Ward Rumors [Infinity Ward]
March 2nd, 2010
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Strange, hazy things are happening at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward. This wouldn't be the first time for the studio.
In 2002, nearly a dozen developers walked out of Tulsa-based studio 2015, the team behind the PC game Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Rumor has it that the developers did not want to be chained to Medal of Honor and be at EA's beck-and-call.
Those developers went off to Encino and established Infinity Ward. Ironically, the developers were then acquired by Activision and began making Call of Duty games, starting with Call of Duty in 2003. That was followed with Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.
Activision roped in another developer, Treyarch, to work on Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War.
Yet here was Infinity Ward locked in with the Call of Duty franchise. There's DLC and the inevitable pressure of working on yet another Call of Duty game. Infinity Ward has become the CoD guys. Pigeonholed, sure, but the diehard fans of the series would not have it any other way. But, maybe Infinity Ward has been ready to move on?
There have been rumors since early this year that Infinity Ward is not working on the still-unannounced, yet-totally-inevitable Modern Warfare 3. Instead, apparently another studio (not Treyarch) has been brought in to work on the title.
However, last fall the LA Time reported an unconfirmed story that a third team had been brought in to work on the Call of Duty series. If true, that would mean that Activision would have brought in two external teams to work on Call of Duty, the franchise that Infinity Ward created.
Considering the enormous sales of Modern Warfare 2, Activision could be eager to strike while the CoD is hot.
The relationship between Activision and Infinity Ward has been recently described as "tense". According to website G4, a source has stated that a "bunch of bouncer-types" showed up outside Infinity Ward offices unannounced earlier today. Studio heads Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West apparently met with Activision today as well. According to his Facebook page and Linked In page, West is now unemployed.
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