Call of Duty: Discover your Power

For the last few years Activision comes up with these new Call of Duty commercials that always make me kinda want to revisit the franchise (Black Ops was the last one I played). This year is no different, first they have these TV ads with Kevin Spacey that look cool because, hell its Keyser Soze telling me to shoot things with future guns. Now they have these ads staring Taylor (Battleship wasn't that bad!) Kitsch and Emily Ratajkowski. They're pretty cool too although I'm not sure I'll be able to look at Emily Emily Ratajkowski ever again without seeing a goat.

And thus concludes my yearly Call of Duty post.

Top 10 Games of this Generation

The Screen Team (as featured on this blog before) have asked their viewers for a list of the top 10 games of this generation. GammaSquad did something similar a couple weeks ago but they drew it out over like 5 different slideshows and featured far less cleavage, so I'm going with this one.

It's a pretty respectable list. A couple of the Wii and PS3 games I haven't played so I can't comment on just how baller Super Smash Bros: Brawl really is. I had zero intent of doing this but off the top of my head these are the best games I remember playing on the 360 (and the few times I got my hands on a Wii or a PS3):

Red Dead Redemption
Bioshock
Battlefield 3
Mass Effect
Skyrim
Arkham City
Uncharted 2
Halo 3
XCom Enemy Unknown
COD: Black Ops


I know putting a Call of Duty game on here blows away any "hardcore" gamer cred I never had but as a reminder I've been in baby land most of the year and haven't really had a chance to get my hands on some of the bigger titles from 2013 like GTA V or The Last of Us. Also COD: Black Ops was dope, so get off my back.

Call of Duty: Ghosts of Modern Warfare 2

If you think that Call of Duty: Ghosts is just Malibu Stacy with a new hat, you don't know the half of it. Activision has been caught using a motion capture sequence from Modern Warfare 2 (a game that came out 4 years ago) in Ghosts.

whoops...

Call of Duty: 39, the quest for more money

I'm not going to lie to you, this trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts has my attention. Probably not enough to actually buy the game or anything. Still, it makes me a bit wistful for all the hours I spent on Call of Duty: Black Ops.

My wife is due in just a couple weeks so conventional wisdom would say I won't have a lot of time to play video games this fall/winter, however that's not always the case. I remember playing a ton of late night Call of Duty and Battlefield 2 right after my son was born because he had a really weird sleeping/eating schedule. I've talked with some other parents who experienced the same thing. So here's hoping that little baby girl will totally wreck my sleeping schedule so I can play some games this fall/winter. I never did get around to beating Skyrim.

Call of Duty: Ghosts

One of the big game reveals at the Xbox One event today was Call of Duty: Ghosts. It's not like it was a surprise there would be a new Call of Duty game. COD has pretty much turned into Madden. Until the series really tanks you know we're getting a new one every November. Still, a first look is a first look so it's a medium big deal.

It looks good, it just doesn't look THAT good. Certainly not $400-$500 for a new console plus another $60 for the game and $50 for a second controller and $10 a month for Xbox Live Gold good. This graphic I saw on reddit expresses the problem Microsoft and Sony are going to run into pretty well.

At a certain point I'm sure I'll jump all over one the new consoles. It's just going to take more than a slightly shinier Call of Duty like say... Red Dead Redemption 2: Redemption Harder.

Merry New Links

23 Ungrateful Kids Who Didn't Like What They Got For Christmas. Christmas this year was killer, I got a bunch of clothes and books I wanted and Logan was practically swimming in toys. He got so many trains and train accessories I'm pretty sure he's one month away from drawing a pension with Burlington Northern.

Oh yeah, all these ungrateful kids on twitter should be shot into the sun.

Your SNES Carts Might Be In Trouble. This is How You Can Save Them. Ack Batteries! My copy of A Link to the Past is near 16 years old, If Logan is ever going to play it I'm going to need to replace the internal battery. It can't be more difficult than replacing the thermostat sensor on a 2003 Nissan Sentra, right?

25 Mind Bogglingly good cosplays from 2012. Holy Balls, these are getting out of hand. I'm pretty sure these aren't normal nerds but big time Hollywood costumers trolling us on the internet.

Call of Duty's Biggest Problem? Penis Swastikas. Back in my COD days I used to see these all the time (well normal swastikas not penis swastikas, that's new). It bottles my mind to think that in the year 2013 there are people out there that are like "Hey, let's be racist and get banned from this game. That sounds awsome!".

Freeloading Links

Xbox team’s ‘consumer detector’ would dis-Kinect freeloading TV viewers. Microsoft has recently filed a patent for "Content Distribution Regulation by Viewing User". Which is a fancy way of saying they plan on turning you upside down and shaking the change out of your pockets. Essentially the kinnect would recognize how many people are in the room and make sure you pay $4.99 per head for Twilight II Electric Boogaloo. Go Science!

Great American Leaders Riding Dinosaurs. Woohoo Internet!

Call of Duty Black Ops II: The Destructiod Review. I really like this review because they acknowledge the fact that big event games like this have become impossible to review. If it's a bad score you're just a hater and can't enjoy a game based on it's merits or it's a good score and you're just a corporate shill who's looking to buddy up to the software developers for free swag.

I'll try and be honest, I think Black Ops II looks fun and if I had tons of cash and a bunch of free time on my hands I'd totally pick it up. But yeah, a COD game every year is a bit much and it's become hard to separate COD from it's frat-tastic fan base. Also Activision... ugh, amirite?

You Will Not Go To Space Today. Like I said before, Woohoo internet!

I refuse to get sucked back into Call of Duty

However, Robert Downey Jr. is in a fighter jet so my argument is pretty invalid.

Ok Black Ops 2, I'm listening

While I was on vacation this week a new Multiplayer trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 hit the interwebs. I know I'm supposed to be a old timey hipster gamer and be all "pssshhh black ops 2, more like black ops doo-doo", but dare I say this kinda looks fun?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not headed down to Gamestop and pre-ordering it or anything but when November rolls around I'm going to take a good hard look at the reviews. I figure by November I might almost be done with Skyrim.

Shoot Bros 2: Shoot all the Bros

One of the minor announcements coming out of E3 this week is that EA is launching a new subscription service for Battlefield 3 called Battlefield 3: Premium (clever I know). With the success of Call of Duty's Elite service this shouldn't be any sort of big surprise, but it still feels a bit like a slap in the face from a franchise that was supposed to be the anti-COD. When you combined this with the fact that EA is cutting back on it's official servers to cash in on renting customs servers, you might get the impression that EA is just in the business of shaking down gamers.

For 50 bucks a year Battlefield 3 players will get new maps and updates which isn't that bad of a deal I guess. I took a break from Battlefield 3 over Christmas when I got a couple new games and I haven't looked back. Not that I haven't thought about it. I still get the FPS urge every now and then. It's just hard to walk back into a multiplayer game that feels like it's designed to alienate the casual gamer.

Maybe I should get more excited about Halo 4?

Call of Duty to get more Black Opier (sp?)

You know the deal, another year means another Call of Duty game. This November will see the return of the Black Ops universe. A couple years ago Black Ops set itself apart from the Modern Warfare series by placing you in the 60s, but the sequel looks like it's headed back to the future.

The trailer looks pretty good, but there's a part of me that sort of wonders why call it Black Ops at all if it's barely tied to the first game? Modern Warfare already takes place in the near future, why have another series take place in a slightly different near future? I guess I'm just a fuddy duddy that way. Its a Call of Duty world, I'm just living in it.

Modern Warfare 3, staring Ghost

Apparently Ghost from Modern Warfare 2 didn't make the cut for Modern Warfare 3. I'm still praying to the god of Battlefield 3 and as such haven't seen or played any MW3, so I don't really care that much. However, Ghost was plenty pissed as this fan-film shows.

Too little too late, Call of Duty

Activision rolled out the big guns this weekend in their battle to win the hearts minds and pocket books of gamers everywhere. This commercial with Sam Worthington and skinny Jonah Hill was pretty much everywhere, especially if you were watching any football.

I'm not gonna lie, it's a cool commercial. I mean skinny Jonah Hill totally weirds me out, and Sam Worthington is pretty much awful in anything, still it really makes me want to play more Battlefield 3... I mean Call of Duty.. No I mean Battlefield 3.

I should call in sick tomorrow.

TGILinks

The FTC is calling Kelly Brook a liar. Turns out those goofy looking shoes that are supposed to help you loose weight and give you a smokin hot ass don't actually do anything. Well they did do one thing, they cost Rebook 25 million dollars in a lawsuit.

Best of the Friend-Zone Phil meme. If you can't relate to these then congratulations, you and I had a very different High School experience.

What the heck is Rosh Hashanah? Yeah that's two straight articles by pleated jeans. I don't care that dude is funny... But he's probably not Jewish, I'm no rabbi or anything but I think he got a few of his facts wrong.

The X-Men Guide to Puberty. It's funny and it makes you think. Puberty is hard enough, imagine having to go through it with a metal arm growing out of your crotch.


Grown man attacks boy over Call of Duty match. I don't think this guy should go to jail, he should be given a key to the city. Playing COD would be a much better experience if teens thought they could actually get beaten for their racist bs.

Call of Duty: Elite is how they get you

The Call of Duty: Elite service was announced by Activision a couple months ago but up until this last week we never really had any specific details. Just a vague idea we were all going to get screwed by Activision. Well here's the deets:

• The barebones Elite service is going to be free, but a premium membership will cost $50 for a year subscription or you can get it "free" if you buy the special Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (which costs $40 extra, surprise!).



• Elite premium members will get new content (ie. maps) every month instead of every 3 months. Activision has already estimated that Modern Warfare 3 will have around 20 pieces of DLC, some available shortly after launch.



• Premium subscribers will also get "celebrity-fueled" video content. I'm guessing this mostly be comprised of Kobe Bryant telling you about his favorite load outs. No one will watch these.



• There will also be daily competitions for virtual and real prizes. Activision throws the iPad word around here but my best guess is 99.9% of the time you're going to be competing for a Call of Duty t-shirt for your avatar.



• The premium Elite subscription fee also lets you level up your clan through specific challenges. There will be clan specific swag you can unlock through those challenges.
  

This is all in addition to the expanded stat keeping and video storage a barebones Elite membership already gives you. There will be a mobile ap too, so you can see how awful you are with the double barrel shotgun on your iPhone.

I've got to admit, this is pretty brilliant stuff from Activision. If your "time played" counter for Black Ops is listed in days instead of hours you will pony up 50 bucks a year for the super duper Elite membership. I've already decided my dollars are going to Battlefield 3, but if I was going to pick up Modern Warfare 3 I'd take a real hard look at the Hardened Edition.

Welcome to the future of video games.

Finishing games is for chumps

CNN recently had a report that 9 out of 10 gamers won't finish the game they're playing. That's a pretty high number, but when I thought about it, it sounds kind of right. Off the top of my head the last 10 games I've played are. Red Dead Redemption, Shadow Complex, Dead Space, Portal, Bioshock, Trials HD, Black Ops, Battlefield: Band of Brothers, Lego Harry Potter, and Tecmo Bowl: Throwback. Out of those 10 the only ones I've finished are Red Dead Redeption, Portal and Bioshock.

CNN goes on to talk about how busy the average gamer is these days and how short of attention spans we all have. When you think about it, it makes a lot of common sense. Even if you're a hard core or casual gamer are you really going to spend the 20+ hours to beat Red Dead Redemption or Mass Effect 2 when there are cool games coming out every week, especially around the holidays?

I guess the publishers don't care that much as long as you buy the game. But here's the thing, when Raptr (a company that tracks gameplay) reports back to Rockstar that 90 percent of people who bought Red Dead Redemption don't finish it, how's that going to effect the sequel? The logical conclusion is that it's only going to lead to shorter and shorter games, with an increased emphasis on multi-player. Why pay the money to develop a 40+ hour game when no one's around after the 10th hour?

Multiplayer is great, and I'm not going to rag on games with simple concepts. I love a good mindless multiplayer battle. It's just kinda sad to think that publishers might look at these numbers and think that we need more Call of Dutys and less Bioshocks.

5th of the Links

10 of the Gnarliest moments in Scalped. Right now this is easily the best comic I'm reading and it has been for quite some time. If you're ever over at my house, first you have to help me fix a fence but after that you should totally borrow the first tpb.

Call of Duty: Galactic Warfare Mod. So this is why people still play games on computers. I'm kinda surprised Lucasarts hasn't already come up with a project like this. I mean they're all about jumping on bandwagons why not make a star wars COD?

Patton Oswalt's rejected pitches to DC. A Dirty Dozen inspired comic made up entirely of Batman Villains? Of course DC said no. I think they're allergic to money.

The 7 dumbest weaknesses in comic book history. I don't know about this, I mean I like dumb weaknesses. I think they're totally believable, I think everyone has a weakness somewhere in their lives. If I was a superhero my weakness would totally be cookies.

bonus fact: If you google superman + magic you get a lot of pictures of Dwight Howard.

Thank you Activision

I've lamented the release dates of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare3 and Battlefield 3 here before. Both games look awesome, but I don't have 120 bucks to spend on two very similar games. Especially right before Christmas, cause my baby needs toys.

Luckily for me Activision just made my choice that much easier by confirming the long standing rumors that they're going to start charging a monthly fee to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Now, I'll freely admit I'm playing fast and loose with semantics here. Activion claims that the monthly fee will be for the "Call of Duty: Elite" experience and that the game will be playable online without paying for the Elite service (more details on what the elite experience is here). But let's call a duck a duck. This Christmas if you want to get the fullest COD experience you're going to have to pay extra for it.

You know what, good for Activision. I'm sure they'll make an extra billion dollars on this and thousands of 13 year olds are going to be thrilled at being able to track their accuracy improvement on the AK-74u. Me, I get to save 60 bucks and will enjoy Battlefield 3 all the more.

MW3 looks face meltingly good

The first trailer for Call of Cuty: Modern Warefare 3 hit the interwebs this morning. I'm not gonna lie to you, it looks really impressive. At a certain point the Call of Duty franchise is going to hit a wall, I just don't think it's happening yet.

On a semi related note, I'm thinking of putting in for vacation November 8th.

The battle of games my wife will mistakenly call Halo

This morning someone leaked a bunch of details on the next Call of Duty game. The biggest detail is that it will be a direct sequel to Modern Warfare 2, and it's going to ship November 8th. Neither of these are really earth shattering, but it does confirm the latest rumors.

Other rumors about the game that haven't really been confirmed yet is that it will feature larger battle maps and more destructive environments, kinda like Battlefield 2. Speaking of Battlefield..

EA has announced that Battlefield 3 (also coming out this fall) already has an expansion pack only available to pre-orderers . Cue the sad fog horn from The Simpsons.

Now I'm really excited about Battlefield 3 and I get DLC. I'm not a rabid fanboy that expects every publisher to be Valve and just shower us with free maps and updates. I don't even mind when publishers have special content available with pre-orders, but I'm not a big fan of this decision. What EA is doing specifically here is offering the most popular maps from Battlefield 2 as a bonus to people that pre-order the game. If you don't pre-order you can still get the maps. Eventually. And you'll have to pay extra cash.

By the time Battlefield 8 comes out I bet all you get with the game is the source code and if you want to load any textures you'll have to pay extra.