Is Modern Warfare 3 a Disappointment?

One of the most anticipated games of the year finally hit stores Monday night. The release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 became available for gamers world wide.

Those who kept up with the Call of Duty franchise were excited for this latest installment. But is Modern Warfare 3 really all that it's been hyped up to be?

Modern Warfare 2 was, and still is, truly awesome. But MW3 does seem to be more of an "expansion pack" for MW2! Some gamers are saying that MW3 is nothing more than MW2 with new maps and an alternative array of sound effects. Is that all that MW3 really is? Is it only a make over of MW2?

In MW3, there is plenty of sleek new designs and really cool detailed maps. Weapons for MW2 have returned, some with a new look. I like MW3 only because the .50 Barrett is back! (that's one example)


Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, my favorite of the CoD franchise.

In MW2, I used the .50 Barrett and loved it. After MW2, Activision teamed up with Treyarch and produced Call of Duty: Black Ops. This was different from MW2. So, yes...Black Ops was something new. The weaponry had a mid-20th Century feel, and included new things like an RC-Car, Tomahawk weapon, and Camera Spikes. Blacks Ops had justification because it was different. (Maybe it wasn't as good; when players got bored with Black Ops, they returned to MW2)

How do you perfect perfection? Modern Warfare 2 is one of the best video games I've ever played. I like it more than Battlefield 2, Call of Duties: 1,2,3,4, & Black Ops. But it's hard to say I like MW3 more than 2 because MW3 just, like I said, seems merely like an "expansion pack."


Battlefied 3, different than CoD games, but very very awesome!

Earlier, before the release of Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 hit stores. Now, I think Battlefield 3 is far better than Modern Warfare 3. In Battlefield 3, factors such as wind-age, gravity, and bullet travel time are factored into firing weapons. The game also includes Surefire lights that mount to weapon that actually blind out the enemy. Another awesome factor is that in Battlefield 3, not only do you run around killing enemies, you can also pilot tanks, LAVs, helicopters, and fighter jets. How awesome is that! If you're torn on whether or not to spend money on Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3, go with Battlefield 3!

Microsoft XBOX New Video Game Technology

The controller-free Kinect device, a surprise new Xbox 360 console that lets you get in the game by moving your body, and a deal with ESPN were among the announcements Microsoft’s Xbox team made Monday to kick off its presence at this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.

With this interesting new technology in video gaming, could this take the next step past the Wii controllers? Will the controls be more accurate towards the players' movement? or will we still have a hard time trying to swing our tennis racket when we want to?

Activision, Modern Warfare execs trade barbs, lawsuits

by: Mike Smith

Fans of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are used to dramatic battles, but a war of words emerging this week could determine the future of one of modern videogaming's most successful franchise.

Modern Warfare 2 co-creators Jason West and Vince Zampella, fired for alleged insubordination on Tuesday in a surprise move that shocked the entire industry, filed a strongly worded lawsuit with a California court today.

The filing described Activision as demonstrating "astonishing arrogance and unbridled greed," and accuses the company of terminating the pair in order to avoid paying them "substantial" royalties from last year's Modern Warfare 2 release, heralded as the biggest launch in entertainment history.

"Instead of thinking, lauding, or just plain paying Messers. West and Zampella for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public," the filing says, "last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty.'"

The pair are seeking -- among other things -- damages in excess of $36 million, and a restoration of their rights to the Call of Duty franchise.

In turn, Activision described the pair's claims as "meritless," and insists it showed "enormous patience" before making its decision. The company also took the opportunity to reassert its ownership of the colossally successful Call of Duty franchise.

"Over eight years, Activision shareholders provided these executives with the capital they needed to start Infinity Ward, as well as the financial support, resources and creative independence that helped them flourish and achieve enormous professional success and personal wealth," the company said in a press release. "Activision remains committed to the Call of Duty franchise, which it owns, and will continue to produce exciting and innovative games for its millions of fans."

Looks like this battle is just getting started.

Man to Marry 2D Virtual Girlfriend

By MIKE BRODY
Words of THRILL in red!

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - A man who calls himself SAL9000 is set to marry his virtual girlfriend from a video game called Love Plus this weekend.

Web site Boing Boing reports that the man fell in love with one of the virtual girls named Nene Anegasaki and decided to marry her and take her on a honeymoon to Guam.

Since the girl doesn't really exist, that meant he took his Nintendo DS to Guam. He took photos of the trip to Guam and livecast the vacation on Japanese video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga .

"Since the girl doesn't really exist,..."... she's a video game character!

The man now plans to hold a public wedding reception in Tokyo this weekend which will also be livecast on Nico Nico Douga.

Unlike other dating simulations games, Love Plus requires players to take out the virtual girl on dates, buy her gifts and make their girlfriends happy like they would in real life. The player can increase their abilities by studying, working out and solving problems of their virtual girlfriend, but if they fail to make their girlfriend happy, the game will restart after 100 days.

Too bad real relationships don't work like that. I think veteran Halo players would be the only ones with perfectly happy girlfriends because we all remember how many Halo players found ways to "mod'" , meaning "modify", the Halo 2 game. We would all trick out virtual relationships.


Last month, Boing Boing reported that a young Japanese couple in San Francisco had their marriage threatened because the husband took a virtual girlfriend.

I can't make fun of this guy too much. In middle school, when MORTAL KOMBAT was HUGE at the arcades, I wanted to marry the video game character, Kitana.




Giggity.

The $17,500 Video Game

by: Mike Smith

Think $60 video games are too expensive? You won't hear any argument from us, but you might from JJ Hendricks, a collector who just paid a clinically insane $17,500 for an obscure NES game from 1990.

The game in question is an ultra-rare, gold-colored version of Nintendo World Championships, a cartridge specially produced for use in a Nintendo-sponsored gaming contest. According to Wikipedia only 26 were created, and Hendricks calls it the "Holy Grail" of video game collectors.

The game itself has a time limit of just 6 minutes and 21 seconds and consists of three short segments from other NES games: Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and Rad Racer. Players are scored according to their performance in each game, and their scores are totaled once the time limit expires. Doesn't sound too riveting to us, but then somehow we doubt Hendricks is in it for the gameplay.

And while $17,500 might seem a bit much for a collection of ones and zeroes, Hendricks actually got a bargain: the game was originally listed on eBay for a cool $25,000.

PS2 Still Reigns Over PS3

PS3 Bested by Older Brother

by Mike Smith

According to official April figures released by the NPD Group, the Playstation 3 found itself beaten out for fifth place by an unusual competitor: its predecessor, the Playstation 2.

A 50% leap in Playstation 2 sales accounts for the surprising change, an increase likely prompted by the system's price cut on April 1, a move which apparently electrified interest in the nine-year old platform.

The PS2's success was probably the only nugget of April sales news to put smiles on the faces of Sony execs. Nintendo platforms continued their lockdown of the top spots, with the Wii coming second and the DS coming both first and third, courtesy of the just-launched DSi: the DS's two hardware variations accounted for an astonishing million sales during April.Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 was down slightly over last April, but still managed a solid fourth place and remains on course for a record-breaking year.

But both the Playstation 3 and PSP posted disappointing results, with the PS3 placing sixth with its worst performance in over 18 months, and the PSP limping in seventh with a total of 116,000 sales -- down over 30% on March's numbers.

The news has revitalized persistent rumors of price cuts for Sony's PS3. The system's base model is between $150 and $200 more expensive than its competitors, the Wii and Xbox 360. Industry news site Gamasutra predicts we'll see a $100 cut in the $400 Playstation 3 announced at the E3 video games trade show in Los Angeles in early June.

So if you're contemplating taking the Playstation plunge -- and with top exclusive superhero thriller Infamous just a week away, we're betting some of you are -- you might well want to hold off and wait to see what June has in store.

Video Games Controlled by Telekinesis

New Video Game Literally A Mind Game

MAKUHARI, Japan (AFP) - Willpower is set to replace fast fingers in a new video game in which players move characters through a headset that monitors their brain waves.

California-based NeuroSky Inc. showed off the new headset -- named Mindset -- at the Tokyo Game Show, the industry's biggest exhibition which opened near the Japanese capital Thursday.
The Mindset monitors whether the player is focused or relaxed and accordingly moves the character on a personal computer.

"We brought this to the game show as a new interface, a new platform for game creators," NeuroSky managing director Kikuo Ito told AFP.

Children's games using the system will hit the US market next year, Ito said.
"We are exploring the use of brain waves in the game industry because games are fun and so close to people," he said.

"Once people get used to the idea of using brain waves for various applications, I hope we will see various products using this technology," he said.

In distance learning courses, for example, teachers could monitor whether students were attentive, Ito said.

Train drivers and motorists could use it to judge their stress levels and alertness, Ito added.
Japan's Keio University put similar technology to use this year to let a paralysed man take a virtual stroll on the popular Second Life website, with the machine reading what he wanted to do with his immobile legs.

NeuroSky said the Mindset could help people with other types of disabilities.

"For people with difficulty speaking, this can be a tool for communication," Ito said.
Ito was hopeful that the technology would eventually go on sale outside the United States. Prices have not been announced.