That said, we've already begun the process to add the new playlists to the game. Don't get your hopes up just yet, as there is currently no ETA on when you can expect to see them go LIVE, but as soon as I know when you can expect them, I'll let you know. I've walked you through the process we're going through now at the end of this post. It's not a long process, but still a process nonetheless.

Hit the jump for a full breakdown of the playlists we'll be adding, as well as the process involved in adding new playlists to the game.

To give you an idea of what's required to add a playlist to the game, I'll break down the process we're going through now.

1) Setting up the playlists.

Now that we're ready to make these official playlists, one of our designers (Brent M.) is setting up the playlists and uploading it to PartnerNET so that we can play it locally on the GOLD build of the game.

2) Internal QA Testing

Once the playlists are set up so we can play it locally, the QA department will play test the new playlists and ensure there are no bugs and no problems with the settings. As I said, this past weekend we found a few bugs with Bare-bones Team Deathmatch when we disable perks which allowed you to still use perks in slot 1. So we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen in the actual playlist and adjust accordingly.

3) Localization / Translations

While it's going through QA, our production team has to work on localization of the Gametype descriptions and names so that we can get the new descriptions translated in every language the game is available in.

4) Pushing the playlist live

Once all localization and testing is complete, then we can upload the new playlists and flip the switch to make it available to everyone over Xbox live / PSN. No download or anything is required. The playlist will update seamlessly the next time players get on once it's uploaded.

As I said, no ETA on how long all this will take, testing is always unquanifiable because you never know what could come up, but I'm expecting this to be a rather smooth process. As soon as I know when we'll be pushing them live to you guys, I'll post here and let you know you can expect them.

As a reminder, the new playlists we're planning on adding include:

Bare-bones Team Deathmatch

No more excuses. No more blaming Martyrdom or Juggernaut for your lack of skills and kills. Bare Bones Team Deathmatch eliminates the excuses and takes it back to basics with standard Team Deathmatch with no perks, no kill streak rewards. Just you, your skill, and your weapons.

Hardcore HQ

Hardcore HQ requires a lot more than just spamming the HQ position with nades and running in guns blazing. Hardcore HQ encourages more tactical gameplay and communication to win with increased damage, no HUD elements, and friendly fire on.

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy starts every member of the attacking team with a bomb. So everyone has the opportunity to plant if they’re good enough.

Hardcore FFA

Even faster paced Free For Alls, where every bullet counts and playing smart is key for a solid k/d ratio. Standard Free for All rules, with Hardcore mode enabled for extra damage, no HUD, and no health re-gen.

Playing Heavenly Sword it was maybe two hours before I actually died for the first time, and I was able to finish the game on the standard difficulty in around seven hours with only one section causing me trouble. None of that was a particular concern, quite the reverse in fact. I'd had fun, the characters were interesting, and I'd been able to finish the game in a timely fashion so that the entire experience remained still fresh in my mind the whole time. This got me thinking about what exactly it means for a game to be challenging, and whether it is actually be a problem when one isn't.

The more I thought about the game the more I realised that it was possible to complete the game using only a very small set of the tactics and combos available; it is arguable feasible to use only a single attack command. The same is true of both BioShock (As I have mentioned previously) and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. All three games feature a dominant strategy, a "golden path" that can be followed to achieve rapid victory. However during my time actually playing those games I was never aware of this, or at the very least if I did was never inclined to attempt to follow this "golden path" despite a desire to finish each game.

Considering the reasons for this it seems there are a number of techniques that are used to mitigate this "golden path", or at least lead players away from it.

• Spectacle: Scripted sequences, visually interesting environment and detailed animations can make it difficult to focus on the underlying gameplay. Using Super-Style attacks in Heavenly Sword is not required but they are all visually impressive when activated.
• Intuition: Usually the "golden path" requires that you play the game in a manner that seems counter-intuitive to the game itself; that you do something you wouldn't normally do in that situation. Running head on into each fire fight will get you through Call of Duty quicker but seems suicidal in context.
• Encouragement: Often other characters will explicitly guide you towards a certain play style and away from the "golden path".
• Learning Curve: Following "golden path" requires an understanding of the game mechanics that can be difficult to attain during an initial play through.
• Variety: The sheer range of options available can serve to hide the "golden path". With so many possible weapon, plasmid, gene tonic combinations finding a dominant one in BioShock is a time consuming task.

A combination of these techniques is usually enough to mask the "golden path" and lead players to experiment with different strategies. Use these masking techniques can help to motivate players to develop inventive solutions, even if the game contains a dominant strategy.

In a multi-player environment a dominant strategy is a significant concern as it will severely unbalance the game. Resulting in a situation where success or failure can feel like the result of cheating; if not in terms of the rules of the game, then certainly in term of the spirit of the game. But in a single-player game there is nobody to cheat but yourself, and if you never spot that a game has a "golden path", or never use it does it really matter that one exists?

I'm not sure. Player experience should trump everything, and after all sometimes doing things the hard way is actually more entertaining that doing things the right way.

Concerto en Si Bemol Major de Machine Gun

Thanks to everyone who commented, sent in emails, or contacted me via other means; including the epic presentation I received via the mail this morning containing an entire breakdown of a new game mode complete with a full-size fold out poster (thanks Ian!!).

I received a lot of great suggestions and feedback regarding new playlists you guys would like to see, and this weekend I'm going to be hosting a series of private matches in Call of Duty 4 to test them out. So if you haven't already, be sure to drop me a message on Xbox Live / PSN as I'll be cleaning off room on my friends list and inviting anyone interested to help out this weekend.

Some of the gametypes we're going to test out this weekend are:

Bare-bones Team Deathmatch

No more excuses. No more blaming Martyrdom or Juggernaut for your lack of skills and kills. Bare Bones Team Deathmatch eliminates the excuses and takes it back to basics with standard Team Deathmatch with no perks, no kill streak rewards. Just you, your skill, and your weapons.

Hardcore HQ

Hardcore HQ requires a lot more than just spamming the HQ position with nades and running in guns blazing. Hardcore HQ encourages more tactical gameplay and communication to win with increased damage, no HUD elements, and friendly fire on.

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy starts every member of the attacking team with a bomb. So everyone has the opportunity to plant if they're good enough.

Hardcore FFA

Even faster paced Free For Alls, where every bullet counts and playing smart is key for a solid k/d ratio. Standard Free for All rules, with Hardcore mode enabled for extra damage, no HUD, and no health re-gen.

-----

That's the plan for this weekend. I'll be setting up private rooms all weekend long and inviting everyone online and interested into the lobby to test them out. If we all like them, then come Monday when I get back to the studio, we're going to work on adding them as new playlists.

If all goes well, I'd like to make this a weekly weekend event with you guys, where we log on every Saturday to try out new stuff you guys come up with, what we like stays, what we don't goes! So log on this weekend to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, send me a friend request or a message letting me know you want to play, and let's get some games going testing these out. See you online this weekend!

I spent most of my time, this past extended weekend, playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer with a lot of you from the community. The cool thing is, like most games that have been out for a while, the community starts creating their "own versions" of gametypes or completely making up new ones that they play in Private Match. So I spent a good deal of my time online this weekend in private matches with several readers of this blog, playing some community made gametypes. Such as one of our games of "Michael Myers" that one of the players in the game apparently recorded last night that can be found above.

If you're not familiar with the Mike Myer's gametype, it essentially boils down to hide and seek. Hit the jump for a full description of how to play it, but that's not the point of this post.

The point is. Talk of new playlists has sprung up again here at the studio, and I'm pushing to get another playlist update for the game, hopefully adding some gametypes or revamped playlists. This weekend really got me thinking about what we can do. Essentially anything you can make up in Private Match (by tweaking settings / rules) can be used as a new playlists / gametype. Something as making more hardcore gametypes hardcore, or something more complex like a completely new mode.

That said, I'm looking for a group of people who'd be interested in getting together for some private matches and trying out some community made gametypes, or throwing in ideas for rule sets / settings that could make for some interesting gameplay. We obviously have some ideas already of what we've like to do, but I'm interested in playing all the community Gametypes that you guys have already come up with and seeing how fun they are. I've played Zombie (that's a given), and quite a few other, but if you have any cool gametype you and your friends have come up with in COD4, let me know. Let's play it.

Drop me a message online and I'll make some room on my friends list, and we'll get games going this week / weekend to try some of them out, or leave your gametype ideas / suggestions / rules in the comments!

For how to play "Mike Myers" or "Manhunt" as well as a summary of how our games went this weekend, hit the jump.

There is 1 "Mike Myers" which can only use a Shotgun, Pistol, and Knife. Nothing else, he goes on the bottom team.

Everyone else in the room goes on the top team. The goal is to hide around the map (sniper class helps), in the goal to be the last man alive. Mike Myers will go around finding / killing everyone until there is one person left. Once you're the last man standing, you're allowed to attempt to kill Mike Myers, but only using a knife, pistol, and stun grenades.

While the video above isn't the best respresentation of it, it can actually be a lot of fun. Especially when you're laying in a really great hiding spot and watch the "Mike Myers" walk right past you without ever realizing it.

The best games we played of it last night were on Overgrown and Crossfire. Overgrown is really good as there's plenty of places to hide in the ghilie. At one point I was spotted on the rooftop by grandma's house, so I had to make a run for it. I ended up being chased all the way by the barn, across the woodbridge, into the house, and out the door towards the Library.

I decided to lose him by going prone right outside the door leading towards the Library in the tall grass. It was one hell of a rush when he came running out, and right past me. Even after stopping and checking the grass for a bit, he missed me in the ghillie suit. I ended up winning that match, after finding a new hiding spot by the stone bridge on the other side of the sandbags. Waiting till I was the last person, and then popping up and killing him with my pistol. Great game.

The biggest question I'm probably asked the most on any given day is, "What are you guys working on now?!"; Especially since it's been nearly 9 months after we've shipped  (the currently #1 most played game on Xbox Live) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a Variety Map Pack for it on every platform, and several patches later. While I can't quite say what it is that we're currently working on; I did want to give you a status report on exactly what's happening here at Infinity Ward and where we're going as a studio.

Future Projects From Infinity Ward

We're excited to announce that in the recent months we have decided to reup on our contract with Activision publishing. The recently renegotiated deal may not seem like much of an impact from the outside perspective, but it has laid the ground work and kick started our future project, as well as the possibility of a unique new IP by Infinity Ward, that we'll have complete control over. We're excited to be working on our next project, but it's going to be quite a while before I can share any details on exactly what that project is.

Building The Community

With Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, we were heavily focused on building a community around our titles. Launching Charlieoscardelta.com to give our fans an early look at the game via the Beta, as well as stay informed on pre-production with weekly blogs, status reports, and 1v1 feedback with myself and the rest of the development teams. We're planning on expanding on this mentality of how we do things in the future, moving out of the era of typical "PR" and moving towards an even more focused community driven future.

About 4 months ago, Grant Collier transitioned from Infinity Ward to Activision (special projects). As some of you may know, Grant handled a good amount of the PR duties for the studio with myself handling the more community / individual focused efforts. With our Community focused efforts expanding even further in the future, that PR-type position is no longer required at IW, as we'll be spearheading more tangible, personal means of getting information out to our players. Which is why we're so excited about the new Infinityward.com site. As we did with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, we are building a strong community around the studio which will allow our fans an even closer look at pre-production of our future titles, and keep them fully intune with the studio, the team, and the projects we're working on at any given time. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the new site, sign up to the forums, and join in on this community effort.

Essentially, this means we plan on doing much less of the traditional PR that ends up being a one way street, and building on what worked so well in the pre-production of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where myself and the rest of the development team has an open line of 2-way conversation with our community throughout development and after launch.

Expanding Our Team and Studio

In case we haven't made it completely obvious via the in-game Message of the Day enough times, WE'RE HIRING! We're aggressively looking to expand our team here at the studio and are looking for the best talent in the industry to join us here at Infinity Ward. Therefore if you qualify for any of the following positions are looking to join the #1 development studio in North America according to Game Developer Magazine, then be sure to send us an email:

Note the Marketing Manager and Unix Administrator positions above, as they are perfect examples that we're looking for people in all areas of the industry. Trust me, there is absolutely no better studio to work at in the industry. You can learn more about the individual benefits of working here and a bit about the culture of the studio at the new Infinity Ward website, so be sure to check it out and let me know if you have any questions regarding a position you might be good for.

Hopefully this gives you a good perspective on where we stand at the time being, and what you can expect to see from us in the near and distant future.

]]> http://fourzerotwo.wordpress.com/?p=329 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:32:56 +0000 fourzerotwo http://fourzerotwo.wordpress.com/?p=329

Over nearly a year since launch, over 800,000 members, nearly 1.5 million forum posts, and I don't know how many late nights. Charlieoscardelta.com has finally come to a close last night; making way for the new Infinityward.com community that will be the new and future home for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and more importantly all future Infinity Ward titles.

The new site features exclusive developer content, blogs, videos, and of course the brand new Call of Duty 4 and Infinity Ward community forums. If you were a member of Charlieoscardelta.com -OR- the old Infinityward.com your account should still be active on the new site. Just attempt to log in with your old username and password.

Head over and check out the new design and let me know what you think. We worked hard to being you the new site and give you a direct link into what's happening at Infinity Ward on a day to day basis as well as get to know the team and the games we make and plan on making in the future.

Update:

A heads up on what's happening behind the scenes. It came to my knowledge yesterday that only 140,000 of the 800,000 users were transferred over to the new site by the team. Which is about 17.5% of the users made it over to the new forum. Over the course of the night I had them re-transfer the accounts so that if you log in now, and had an old account on Charlieoscardelta.com or Infinityward.com you should be able to recover it seamlessly. For those of you still having problems, I am checking into it on a case-by-case bases to make sure you're taken care of.

Prior to first playing Quake II, I'd been spending a lot of time with Duke Nukem 3D [3D Realms / Apogee Software; 1996], even experimenting with the Build Editor. Together those two games helped form my opinions on what good single-player level design meant: highly interactive environments with multiple routes between areas; levels that logically connected with each other; and used all three dimensions. This design philosophy was further solidified over the next through years by games like SiN [Ritual Entertainment / Activision; 1998], Half-Life [Valve Software / Sierra Studios; 1998] and No One Lives Forever [Monolith Productions / Fox Interactive; 2000].

Each of these games featured levels grouped together into distinct units or chapters with an overall theme and style; within each chapter the levels were often accessible via more than one entry point. Individually each level contained a large number of interactive elements (doors, movable platforms, usable computers, security cameras etc), made use of environmental puzzles and featured enemy and object placement that made good use of the available verticality.

As the technology powering games advanced, it seemed that a lot of what I personally held to be good level design started to disappear. Though the density and type of objects found in individual levels increased the percentage of them that it was possible to interact with rapidly decreased. The physical size of each level seemed to decrease proportional to the number of objects within in them. Specific levels were soon unconnected to those around them except for explicit entry and exit points. As the platform for first person shooters shifted to include consoles the number of levels which made use of vertical enemy and object placement saw a drastic reduction.

By the end of 2000 the style of level design that I'd grown up with seemed all but gone. There were still good games, with some great individual levels, but as a whole game environments in first person shooters had become confined, sterile, linear, and often flat. There were some exceptions to this but even games like Half-Life 2 contain far less directly interactive elements within each level than the likes of SiN or Duke Nukem 3D.

Returning to Quake II after nearly ten years, it's been a strange experience to see how level design has changed. Each Unit, consisting of between two to six levels, contains a number of multi-part objectives. Objectives that often required you to move between levels to complete, certain areas only accessible after tasks have been completed in different levels. It's often possible to enter a level from two different locations with access to some routes restricted depending on which entrance you selected. In some Units (Specifically the Prison sections), it's possible to bypass much of a level by taking an alternate, stealthier, route. Such as using the sewer systems to gain entry to the Prison avoiding the heavily defended main entrance.

In later levels, your future objectives, which at that point are in subsequent Units, become visible on the horizon. Such as during the Power Plant section where the huge "Big Gun" is visibly towering over the level. This was a game design device that wouldn't appear again unit the likes of Half-Life 2 where the Citadel is visible throughout most of the game.

Together these elements served to make the environments of Stroggos feel much more like a real place, than the strictly linear roller-coasters of recent games like Half-Life 2 or Call Of Duty 4. Quake II was just as linear game but it rarely felt as noticeable.

In purely technical and game design terms, a lot of things have moved on since Quake II, graphics, Artificial Intelligence and Enemy and Weapon design have all seen significant improvements. But I feel that over the last decade a lot of what made that game memorable in terms of level design has become lost.

The technology is still there to create highly interactive levels that contain multiple entry and exit points, with objectives spread across different areas, but such games don't seem to be getting made anymore.

First person shooters seem to have moved away from interconnected environments towards a linear sequence of corridors inter-spaced with larger arenas; spectacle and scripted sequences taking the place of navigation and environmental puzzles.

Pues en lugar de DEBER, parece MANDA. Porque Activisión regresara a Call of Duty al pasado. SI . . . otra vez . . . a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Se revelaron algunas imagenes que la verdad no muestran nada nuevo. Y si me preguntan es un error regresar la serie, yo se que es un periodo importante en el ciclo de nuestra civilización. Pero para nosotros como jugadores, nos limita mucho. Cuando juego "Modern Warfare", se siente fresco y con un toque absoluto de tecnologia. Y regresarnos al viejo estilo es un error. Por eso es el "LLAMADO A LA DUDA", porque dudo mucho que pueda mejorar al actual COD.

We're making great progress on the new Infinityward.com. A mock-up of what the front page will look like above, all the pictures and text are just temporary filler at the moment while we work on design and backend functionality.  The new site will take the place of Charlieoscardelta.com and the current Infinityward.com when we're done, but don't expect to see it live for a while.  Next week I'm going to be working on the actual content on the site and moving it all over, populating the pages with actual info / media. Meanwhile we'll be working on building out the forum and online store. Then we'll go live with it.

That said, we're finalizing the T-shirt designs and getting hi-res versions of all of them to the printers for production. I won't spoil the surprise of which ones we're printing just yet, I'll save that for when the store goes live, but still continue to give us feedback on which ones you like as we'll also be looking to make more.

PC Cheat Exploit Fix In The Works

I also wanted to note for our PC players, we're currently working on a fix for the PC cheat exploit that many of you reported to us after the 1.6 patch. Thanks to everyone for their quick response in getting us information on it. The programmers are currently addressing it and I'll update you when you can expect the fix to hit servers as soon as I know.

Holding onto #1 Most Played Game on Xbox Live Spot

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 GTA IV
4 Battlefield: Bad Company Demo
5 Guitar Hero III
6 Gears of War
7 Rock Band
8 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
9 NINJA GAIDEN 2
10 FIFA 08

I didn't get a chance to post this when it went live this past week, but it looks like we're holding our #1 grasp on the Most Played Game on Xbox Live according to MajorNelson.com.  I'm sure the Double XP weekend had a lot to do with that as I saw a huge number of people playing this past weekend.

Meanwhile, we've been working with the Microsoft team to track down the issue some of you are having when receiving the "Must have active connection to play on Xbox Live" despite being signed into Xbox Live already. The word is, it's apparently an interruption in connection with the Xbox Live server. It's not your internet connection, just your session connection with the Xbox Live server. I've been working with users and Xbox to try to track the problem so they can eliminate it as quickly as possible, I'll keep you posted on any progress there.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

So where are your gaming hours being spent this weekend? I'll be playing some Call of Duty 4, also I got my copy of MGS4 today. I'll probably play that this weekend and see how it is. It looks amazing, while the gameplay is more slower than I normally like, I still think it's going to be an amazing game. I've also been playing the new Incredible Hulk Game while I know the stereotype that all movie-license games suck, it's actually pretty cool. Everything I'd want from a Hulk game is there. Also, if you have a Iron Man gamesave on your HDD when you play, you'll unlock Iron Man in Hulkbuster armor as a playable character and unlock an achievement. I also created a new WoW character this past week.... now I'm not a heavy WoW player (infact, this is my first character) so I'm still unsure how much time I'll spend on the game but I figured since everyone I know plays the damn thing I'd see what all the talk was about. I've owned for a while and just never installed it. So far, I see the appeal and starting to get into it, but I'd still rather pick up a fast-paced FPS over it, but maybe it'll suck me in.

Video Blog

YES, there will be another. YES, I've been slacking on it, YES, I suck. I know, I've been meaning to do one weeks ago and just keep getting sidetracked (by playing games, mostly) and I'm sorry. The shitty thing is there's lots of cool shit I've been wanting to show you guys on it too. I will get one out, soon, I promise. I've been hoping for this really cool game site to launch before I posted a new one, but it likes like I'll have time to do a new one now and then another when it launches. So hopefully I don't procrastinate on that too much longer.

That's it for now, leave a comment and let me know what you're playing or if you still have suggestions for the next video blog hopefully it'll get me inspired to drop the controller and do another one! so let me know! Thanks guys, see you online.

As you can see above, the top 10 include:

1 Call of Duty 4 (Multiformat)
2 Zelda Ocarina of Time (N64)
3 Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
4 Grand Theft Auto IV (Multiformat)
5 Super Mario 64 (N64)
6 007 Goldeneye (N64)
7 Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
8 Metal Gear Solid (PSone)
9 Half Life 2 (Multiformat)
10 Gears of War (Multiformat)

That's awesome. To know that at least 100,000 gamers greatest memory of gaming is on Call of Duty 4 really means a lot. I love the fact that our game gives people the same kind of feeling when they think back to it as I get when I remember finding the flute for the first time in Super Mario Bros. 3, or going 50 - 0 in Complex on Goldeneye. So thank you to everyone who voted us as your personal favorite greatest game, that probably means more to me on a gaming level than any GOTY award could ever.

Since this was a limited poll, I'm interested to hear what some of your personal favorite "GREATEST GAMES OF ALL TIME" are. It doesn't haven't be "THE GREATEST GAME EVER" list, but from your memories of gaming all throughout your life, what do you have the best memories of playing?

Leave a comment with your favorite games, and hit the jump for the full list of Top 100 Games of All time and some of my personal favorite gaming memories.

I don't think I could ever list my personal Top 10 BEST GAMES EVER, but some of my favorite gaming memories come from:

As I said, far from the greatest games ever, but still some of my personal favorites that I still own / play to this day. If I was going to vote greatest games ever, I'd have to take much more into consideration than just "fun factor", like gameplay, control, story, etc. etc. etc. You'd be seeing a lot more of the likes of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Diablo , Portal, etc.

Super Mario Bros. 3 - This game blew my mind when it came out. It seemed so massive, with so many new power-ups and the variety in levels. It was seriously sensory overload at the time.

Goldeneye 007 - This is at the top of a lot of people's list, and pretty low on a lot too depending on what kind of "gamer" you were at the time period. If you were in the PC crowd playing Quake and the likes then Goldeneye really didn't do much for you, but if you were still on the Nintendo kick then this was the mecca of gaming at the time. This was probably the game that sealed it was no longer just a hobby for me, this was a life's passion lol. Like many of you I'm sure, I was the great Goldeneye player in my tri-state area (or so I thought) and had every inch of this memorized. I recently went back and played this when a friend was in town and whopped his ass. Still fun as hell with friends, although it has lost some of it's charm over the years.

Crazy Taxi - This is probably higher on my list than it is for most people, but I have a lot of memories tied to this game. This was one of the first games I got with my Dreamcast (I was late on the bandwagon) and my brother and I stayed up all night playing it the first night. We had unlocked all the mini-games and were going for perfect scores on them until like 2 in the morning before my Brother went to work (graveyard shift). He didn't sleep a wink, and ended up falling asleep at the wheel and hitting a dump truck head on, on his way home. Crazy shit. He didn't day (thank god) but he's more machine than man now (joking, but half his body has steel rods instead of bones). But still, that's a pretty powerful fucking memory of a game. We had a blast playing it, and despite it pretty much being related to a horrifying memory, we still played it countless hours while he laid in casts recovering.

Rainbow Six - Both on the N64 and PC this game was the shit to me. Plotting out your assault via the map, night vision, terrorist, reducing civilian casualties. This was the real deal for me. God I love this game.

Super Mario World - This is one game I can still pick up and play for 10 hours straight today and have a blast. Everytime I re-play this game it has all the same excitement and appeal it did the first time I played it, Unlocking alternate routes and hidden levels. Fantastic game and remains to be just as fantastic today. It's one of the few games that doesn't lose it's appeal over time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Yeah, I could have abbreviated it, but it deserves it's entire glorious name spelled out. This game is by far my favorite Zelda game and one of my favorite games of all times. I only wish I had the time to play these types of games still today, the hours upon hours I'd spend exploring Hyrule can never be replaced or duplicated by any other game. This game was THE adventure for me.

Perfect Dark - The wait for this game was unbearable! The 2nd coming of Goldeneye. I remember re-reading Nintendo Power over and over again whenever there was even a crumb of details about Perfect Dark. When it came out it was just as glorious as I'd hoped. If only Perfect Dark Zero lived up it. For shame.

Ghost Recon - This game is the single reason I continue to buy every Tom Clancy game to date. This game was AMAZING.

What's your favorites, and why? Obviously I have many many many more favorites, I'd love to list my top 5 favorite games on every platform I own, now THAT would be one hell of a list.

So what were the other 90 games selected for the Top 100?

1 Call of Duty 4 (Multiformat)
2 Zelda Ocarina of Time (N64)
3 Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
4 Grand Theft Auto IV (Multiformat)
5 Super Mario 64 (N64)
6 007 Goldeneye (N64)
7 Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
8 Metal Gear Solid (PSone)
9 Half Life 2 (Multiformat)
10 Gears of War (Multiformat)
11 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Multiformat)
12 World of Warcraft (PC)
13 Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii)
14 Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
15 Tomb Raider (PSone)
16 Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
17 Tetris (GameBoy)
18 Half Life (PC)
19 Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA Mega Drive)
20 Super Mario World (GameBoy)
21 Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Wii)
22 Elite (BBC Micro)
23 Resident Evil 4 (Multiformat)
24 The Sims 2 (PC)
25 Shenmue (SEGA Dreamcast)
26 Crash Bandicoot (PSone)
27 Sensible Soccer (Multiformat)
28 Zelda Twilight Princess (Nintendo Wii)
29 Wii Fit (Nintendo Wii)
30 Doom (PC)
31 Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 (PC)
32 Mario Kart 64 (N64)
33 Final Fantasy X (PS2)
34 Pacman (Arcade)
35 Super Smash Bros Melee (Gamecube)
36 Assassin's Creed (Multiformat)
37 FIFA 08 (Multiformat)
38 Pokemon Red & Blue (GameBoy)
39 Guitar Hero III (Multiformat)
40 Mario Kart SNES (Nintendo SNES)
41 Final Fantasy VIII (PSone)
42 Resident Evil 1 (PSone)
43 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
44 Pro Evo Soccer 6 (Multiformat)
45 Monkey Island 2 (Multiformat)
46 Space Invaders (Arcade)
47 Deus Ex (Multiformat)
48 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo Wii)
49 Bioshock (Xbox 360)
50 Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
51 Wii Sports (Nintendo Wii)
52 The Sims (PC)
53 Counter Strike: Source (PC)
54 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
55 Street Fighter 2 (Multiformat)
56 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Mega Drive)
57 Halo 2 (Multiformat)
58 Lego Star Wars: The Original Saga (Multiformat)
59 New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo DS)
60 Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)
61 Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS)
62 Fable (Xbox)
63 Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
64 Gran Turismo 1 (PSone)
65 Civilization (PC)
66 Final Fantasy IX (PSone)
67 Battlefield 2 (PC)
68 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Multiformat)
69 Super Mario World (GameBoy)
70 Timesplitters 2 (Multiformat)
71 Football Manager 2008 (Multiformat)
72 Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
73 Resident Evil 2 (PSone)
74 Championship Manager 01/02 (PC)
75 Age of Empires II (PC)
76 Rome: Total War (PC)
77 Guitar Hero II (Multiformat)
78 God of War (PS2)
79 Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
80 Perfect Dark (N64)
81 Super Smash Bros Brawl (Nintendo Wii)
82 Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)
83 Animal Crossing (Nintendo DS)
84 Starcraft (PC)
85 Unreal Tournament (PC)
86 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Multiformat)
87 Super Metroid Nintendo (SNES)
88 Command and Conquer: Red Alert (PC)
89 Diablo 2 (PC)
90 Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)
91 Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
92 Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
93 Guild Wars (PC)
94 Gran Turismo 3 (PS2)
95 God of War 2 (PS2)
96 Street Fighter (Multiformat)
97 Civilisation 4 (PC)
98 Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (Nintendo DS)
99 Grim Fandango (PC)
100 ICO (PS2)

Hei!

Dette er en side for de som spiller Call Of Duty Modern Warfare i Norge.

Her for dere info og kan spørre om alt mulig rart.

Har også satt inn litt enkel info om spille.

For og få gull-våpen må du gjøre følgende:

Golden Ak-47: Klare alle Assault Rifle challenges.
Golden Desert Eagle: Nå level 55.
Golden Dragonuv: Klare alle Sniper challenges.
Golden M1014: Klare alle Shotgun challenges.
Golden M60: Klare alle LMG challenges.
Golden Mini-Uzi: Klare alle SMG challenges.

For og få mest mulig poeng på så lite tid som mulig må man huske og spille på bla Free for All, Team deathmatch og Sabotage.

Search and destroy hjelper det også, for der for man 50 poeng for hvert kill.

Hvis dere har forslag til Claner eller bare ønsker og spørre om noe innen Call of Duty, så er det bare og komme med innlegg!

A core property of games as a medium is that of interactivity, electronic games especially so. Computers are interactive, therefore computer games are interactive, but does interactivity operate on a binary scale? Is something either interactive or not? If it's not a binary scale does a game require a certain degree of interactivity?

One title that has been criticised for not being enough of a game, (not interactive enough?) is Dreamfall: The Longest Journey [Funcom / Aspyr Media; 2006]. The sequel to the critically acclaimed point-and-click adventure game The Longest Journey [Funcom / Empire Interactive; 1999], Dreamfall has been criticised for including too few elements of actual interactivity. In essence the game involves an extensive use of non-interactive cut-scenes, linked by periods of navigation through the games environments and brief tactically unsophisticated combat sections. By a number of metrics there is very little "game" in Dreamfall and what does exist is not particularly well implemented. However I contend that none of that matters, Dreamfall is a form of electronic entertainment that provides an experience that could not be implemented in another medium and remain as engaging or affecting. The worlds of Stark and Arcadia and the people that inhabit them, could be described in a novel or represented in a film but neither medium could make them feel as much like an actual place as they do in the games.

Dreamfall it is too interactive to be a film, therefore gaming has as much right to claim it as anything else.

All games offer a some degree of interactivity, it make no sense to put a threshold on the degree of interactivity a game is required to offer. The level of interactivity and non-linearity provided by a game like Grand Theft Auto III [Rockstar North / Rockstar Games; 2001] is something unique to the field of games and something that should be encouraged. But the specific style of linear experience provided by Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare [Infinity Ward / Activision; 2007] is just as vital to the evolution of gaming; they are merely at different ends of a wide spectrum of interactivity. Though more linear than Grand Theft Auto III, Call of Duty 4 is again too interactive to be a film. It must be a game because it can't be anything else.

Similar arguments occur when it comes to the role of story and narrative within a game, such as during the GDC panel on "The Future Of Story In Game Design". As interesting as such discussions can be, I believe that they are fundamentally counter productive. I personally see a role for narrative in games, and am interested in the potential new techniques for storytelling made available by games. However I would never claim that all titles must aspire to developing a narrative, any more than I would demand that all films should be in black and white, or that all literature should be written in iambic pentameter.

Discussions about the role of story in game design should be limited to the specifics of whether it is something a particular title should be concerned with or not. Of course there is a role for storytelling in the vast continuum that is games but not necessarily in every title, and not even to the same extent in those titles that do choose to tell a story.

Gaming should be an inclusive medium, there's as much room for the simulated as the imaginary, for the narrative as the ludic.

The worst fate that can befall any medium at such an early stage in it's development is to have arbitrary limitations imposed upon it's growth.

According to Microsoft's Major Nelson's report, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has retaken the #1 spot as the most played game on Xbox LIVE, knocking GTAIV to the #3 spot. This is on the heels of the news that we just passed the 10 million copies sold mark!

THANK YOU to everyone who consistently continues to play the game every night!! To show our appreciation, as always we're going to be holding a Double XP Weekend this weekend starting Friday morning and going till Monday (yes I know... we always say that, but we're really going to cut it off at Monday this time... maybe).

The Double XP will be available in ALL PLAYLISTS and will be on both platforms Xbox 360 and PS3!

In addition, we will be tweaking all the playlist map rotations a bit so that the Variety Map Pack no longer shows up 2:1 to old maps. Therefore all maps (old and new) have an equal chance to come up in map rotation, so you won't be seeing Chinatown pop up 8,000 times or any other new map over and over again.

Thanks again to EVERYONE who continues to support the game and keep it at the top of the charts. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the COD4 T-shirt designs we're working on and let us know which ones we should get printed up, because we'll be giving away a lot of them to our loyal players when we do as well as making them available to you on the new Infinityward.com Online store that will launch in late June with the new site.

See you online!

So here's the deal. Below are every T-shirt design we came up with. Now we don't plan on printing ALL of them, so we need your help in deciding which ones everyone actually would like to have or wear. Some we LOVE and will definitely print regardless, but this will help us cut the least popular ones.

How can you vote? Just leave in the comment section which ones you like and want to see printed. To make it easier, pick your top 5 favorite designs and leave it in the comments, like this:

Designs I Want:

1) #1 Douchebag Tactics

2) #4 Gold Cross Prestige

3) #11 The Armory

and so on, and so forth. Got it? Awesome, here they are.

You can check out the full collection below, scroll all the way down for the link to view them full size. Also note that the color the design is on isn't necessarily the color you'd have to get it on.

THE ICON PACK:

#1 - Douchebag Tactics (Martyrdom Perk)

#2 - Cars on Fire (Are Likely To Explode)

#3 - Prestige (1st Prestige)

#4 - Gold Cross Prestige (10th Prestige)

#5 - Oh Shit (Grenade Indicator)

#6 - Stopping Power

#7 - Noob Tubed

THE FACTIONS PACK:

#8 - British SAS Logo

#9 - Spetsnaz Logo

#10 - USMC Logo

THE WEAPONS PACK:

#11 - The Armory

#12 - M4 Carbine

THE ARTISTIC PACK:

#13 - Factions

#14 - British SAS Breach

#15 - All War Is Deception

#16 - US Marine Assault

#17 - British SAS Assault

Check out full size versions of all the designs at my Flickr account here.

So which ones would you like to add to your T-shirt collection?

Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

Requisiti di sistema Minimi

OS: Windows XP o Windows Vista

Processore:Monocore, Intel Pentium 4 2,4 GHz / AMD 64 2800+

Memoria RAM: 512Mb(Windows XP), 768Mb(Windows Vista)

Scheda Video: 128Mb, NVIDIA Geforce 6600 o superiore / ATI Radeon 9800Pro o superiore

Hard Disk: 8Gb

Requisiti di sistema Consigliati

OS: Windows XP o Windows Vista

Processore: Dualcore, Intel Core 2 1,8 GHz / AMD X2 1,8GHz

Memoria RAM: 1Gb(Windows XP), 1,5Gb(Windows Vista)

Scheda Video: 256Mb, NVIDIA Geforce 8800 o superiore / ATI Radeon X1800 o superiore

Hard Disk: 8Gb
Recensione

Già da quando Call Of Duty 3 era uscito, senza però vedere la luce su PC, si era in progettazione per Call Of Duty 4. Il cambio dell'epoca lo rende del tutto diverso dei vecchi Call Of Duty, infatti niente più Seconda Guerra Mondiale, ma bensì i tempi moderni. Come sempre avrete il controllo degli Americani e degli Inglesi(a missioni alternate sarete un sergete Americano o un soldato semplice Inglese). Combatterete nell'Arabia e in Russia(quindi contro gli Arabi e i Russi), la storia è naturalmente inventata. La grafica come si era già preannunziato è strepitosa, armi completamente diverse(naturalmente, no 2^ Guerra Mondiale), vi sono fumogeni, granate accecanti e stordenti(oltre alle granate a frammentazione). Il singleplayer si presenta come sempre con poche missioni, però molto interessati. All'inizio di ogni missione vi sarà un briefing non più con i diari o cose simili, ma un vero e proprio video. Ma il singleplayer è soltanto una piccola parte del gioco, il punto forte è il multiplayer, che presenta le solite modalità con l'aggiunta di qualcuna: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Cerca & Distruggi, Sabotaggio, Dominio, ed altro. Vi è la presenza di abilità, che(secondo il mio parere) rovinano il gioco in termini di bravura; poichè vi sono abilità che potenziano moltissimo il giocatore. Vi sono i livelli, più score fai più P.E.(punti esperienza) prendi. Al primo livello si posso controllare solo tre classi, con l'aumentare del livello se ne aggiungerano altre due fino a potervi creare una classe personalizzata. Non potrete avere subito tutte le armi presenti, se non salite di livello, perciò in uno scontro tra uno di livello 60 e uno di livello 20, il primo ha più armi e abilità(e quindi dov'è l'abilità del giocatore?). Una cosa che diferenzia CoD 4 dagli altri precedenti è la presenza immediata del PunkBuster(l'anticheater), che nelle precedenti uscite, non vi era da subito, si doveva aspettare l'uscita di una patch.

Voto:9

The story is centered around a fictional near-future conflict involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, who are fighting against Russian ultranationalists in civil war torn Russia, and rebels that have staged a coup d'état in a small Middle Eastern country. It is told from the perspectives of a United States Marine and a member of the British SAS, and is set in multiple locations, including the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Prypiat, Ukraine. The multiplayer portion of the game features various game modes, and contains a leveling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons, weapon attachments, and camouflage schemes as they advance.The game was in development for two years. It uses a proprietary game engine, and includes features that include true world-dynamic lightning, HDR lighting effects, dynamics shadows, and depth of field.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare received considerable praise and has won numerous awards from gaming websites, including IGN's "Best Xbox 360 Game". It was the top-selling game worldwide for 2007, reaching over seven million copies as of January 2008.

Gameplay

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter similar to previous games in the Call of Duty series, but set in the present-day instead of World War II.

The game's move to modern warfare introduces new weapons and technology to the Call of Duty franchise, including the M203 grenade launcher, M4A1 carbine, the AN/PEQ-2 Target Pointer for use in conjunction with night vision goggles, the MP5SD submachine gun, and the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank guided missile. The player gains access to these over the course of the game, but may only carry up to two weapons in addition to grenades. Weapons from fallen foes can be picked up to replace weapons in a player's arsenal. Players also have additional abilities, including a grenade launcher attachment, night-vision goggles, and the ability to call in airstrikes.

The gameplay of Call of Duty 4 shares several features with previous iterations of the franchise. Once again, players fight alongside AI-controlled teammates. They help during the game's missions by providing cover fire, shooting down enemies, and clearing rooms for entry.

A character can be positioned in one of three stances: standing, kneeling, or prone; each affecting the character's rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage, as there is no armor or health powerups. When the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glow red and the character's heartbeat increases. If the character stays out of fire, the character can recover. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player to either flee or toss it back to the enemy.

Campaign

Similar to previous games in the series, the player takes on the role of various characters during a single-player campaign. The characters' involvement in the plot occurs simultaneously and overlaps the events in the game. As such, the player's perspective can change from one character to another between missions.

Each mission features a series of objectives; the player is led to each objective with the HUD, which marks its direction and distance. Some objectives require that the player arrives at a checkpoint, while other objectives require the player to eliminate enemies in a specified location, stand their ground to defend an objective, or plant explosive charges on an enemy installation. The player is often accompanied by friendly troops, who cannot issue orders. Laptop computers containing enemy intelligence appear throughout the campaign, and can be collected to unlock game bonuses.

After completing the campaign, a special epilogue mission is unlocked for play. The mission itself has no bearing on the campaign plot, and focuses on an SAS squad fighting terrorists that have hijacked an airplane and taken a VIP hostage.

Multiplayer

Call of Duty 4 features team-based and deathmatch-based multiplayer modes on various maps. Each mode has an objective that requires unique strategies to complete. Players can call in UAV reconnaissance scans, air strikes, and attack helicopters, when they achieve three-, five-, and seven-enemy kill streaks respectively. A game ends when either a team has reached a predefined number of points, or the alloted time expires in which case the team with the most points wins. However in the rare case the points are even when the time expires, Sudden Death mode is activated in which there is no re-spawning and the team who either has the last man standing, or achieves the objective first are the winners.

The player's performance in the multiplayer mode is tracked with experience points, earned by taking down other players, completing objectives, or by being a member of a winning team. As the player gains experience, they advance in level, unlocking new weapons, perks, challenges, and gameplay modes. The highest obtainable level is 55, but on the console versions of the game, the player has the option to play "Prestige" mode; this resets their level back to 1 and all earned bonuses are lost in exchange for a special in-game insignia. This process can be repeated up to 10 times with a different insignia being given each time, giving the player a total of 605 levels to achieve. Leaderboard statistics, including kills, deaths, and playing time, are not affected by Prestige mode.

Completing a challenge grants experience points and may unlock weapon attachments. When a player's level increases, it may unlock new weapons, perks, or challenges. At lower experience levels, the player only has access to five pre-determined classes, and cannot create a custom class with the weapon of their choosing. However, as the player advances in levels, they earn the ability to customize their classes. This includes selecting their main weapon, side arm, and special grenade type. Additionally, the player can select a limited number of "perks" that can customize their character further. Perk effects include increasing damage by the player, being able to take more damage, or detonating a grenade after being killed in an act of martyrdom. The player is also given challenges to attempt, including achieving a certain number of kills with a specific weapon or shooting down a helicopter or performing a number of head shots.

Synopsis

Characters

During the single-player campaign, the player controls several characters from a first-person perspective. Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, a member of 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), is the first person that the player controls. The player assumes the role of MacTavish for most of the game, starting with his enrollment in 22 SAS. Sergeant Paul Jackson is part of the USMC 1st Force Recon deployed to the Middle East, and the player controls Jackson's character during five levels of Act 1. Captain/Lieutenant Price is an officer of 22 SAS who is playable in a flashback. Yasir Al-Fulani is the president of the unnamed Middle Eastern country mentioned in the game, and is playable only in the game's opening credit sequence. The player assumes the role of an American thermal-imaging TV operator aboard an AC-130 gunship during one level, and a British SAS counter-terrorist operative infiltrating a hijacked airliner to save a VIP in the epilogue level.^[23][19][18]

There are several non-playable characters (NPC) who feature prominently in the story. Captain Price (in his NPC capacity) and his right-hand man, Gaz, serve as mentors to MacTavish. Jackson's USMC platoon is led by Lieutenant Vasquez and Staff Sergeant Griggs; Griggs later accompanies MacTavish in Russia. Sergeant Kamarov leads the Russian Loyalists that ally with the SAS and USMC forces. The villains in the story are Imran Zakhaev, the leader of the Russian Ultranationalist party and the main antagonist of the game; Khaled Al-Asad, the commander of the revolutionary forces in the Middle East and an ally of Imran Zakhaev; and Victor Zakhaev, the son of Imran Zakhaev and a priority figure in the Ultranationalist party.

Plot

The game begins with Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, Captain Price, "Gaz", and a small group of other SAS members infiltrating an Estonian cargo ship in the Bering Sea. After eliminating the crew and confirming the presence of a nuclear device onboard, the vessel comes under attack from hostile MiGs. The team manages to evacuate the sinking ship with the cargo manifest, which provides evidence of ties between a Russian ultranationalists group and a rebel faction in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Russian ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev is set on returning his homeland to the times of the Soviet Union by revolting against the government and seizing a nuclear weapons stockpile. In order to draw international attention away from his plans in Russia, Zakhaev funds a coup d'état in an unnamed Middle Eastern oil-producing nation, organized by local rebel leader named Khaled Al-Asad. It begins with the televised execution of President Yasir Al-Fulani. The British and American governments discover the plot while monitoring Zakhaev's recent activities, and initiate a police action to stop the uprisings in both regions.^[19] After President Al-Fulani is executed, 22 SAS is deployed to rescue their informant within the Russian ultranationalist group who has been compromise and held in ultranationalist held territory in the Caucasus Mountains, with help from a force of Russian military led by Sergeant Kamarov. Following the rescue of the informant the SAS team intends to fly him to safety in Hamburg, Germany, but on the way their helicopter is shot down over Central Russia. An AC-130 gunship is dispatched to provide fire support for the team until they safely manage to evacuate from ultranationalist territory.^[19]

Soon after Al-Asad's coup, the United States invades the Middle Eastern country, using Marine Corps air cavalry to secure a local harbour. A platoon from the USMC 1st Force Recon led by Lieutenant Vasquez searches the city for Al-Asad, securing the television station broadcasting rebel propaganda, but failing to find the revolutionary leader. During the night, while the main USMC forces push Al-Asad's forces back to the capital city, Vasquez's men secure a disabled M1A2 Abrams main battle tank and escort it back to a highway. They are then airlifted to take part in what appears to be the final stages of the conflict, when United States Central Command is notified by the SAS of a Russian nuclear weapon nearby, and sends a team to disarm it. With Command ordering the evacuation of US marines as a precaution, Vasquez's platoon helps to extricate an advance team pinned by enemy fire. The nuclear device nevertheless detonates, leveling large parts of the city and killing the marine forces in the area. Vasquez's men, delayed from escaping the blast radius due to the last-minute rescue of a downed AH-1 SuperCobra pilot, are aboard one of the helicopters caught in the blast radius. Jackson survives the crash of his squad's CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter; however, he dies soon thereafter.

Al-Asad is revealed to have fled the country before the United States-led invasion. However, with help of the informant who the 22 SAS rescued earlier from Russian ultranationalists, the SAS is led to one of Al-Asad's safe houses in Azerbaijan. After interrogating Al-Asad and learning Zakhaev had supplied the nuclear bomb, Captain Price executes him.

Price then has a flashback of his mission to eliminate Zakhaev in Prypiat, Ukraine, 15 years ago. In the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zakhaev took advantage of the turmoil to profit from nuclear proliferation and used his new wealth to lure soldiers from the Soviet Army and form his Ultranationalist breakaway faction. Price, who was a lieutenant with the SAS, was paired with Captain MacMillan to carry out the assassination on the British government's orders. While Zakhaev was engaged in an arms deal, the SAS commandos used the opportunity to target him with a sniper rifle. Zakhaev survived, however, but lost his left arm. The Ultranationalist forces tracked the shot and pursued the snipers across the Zone of Alienation. During the chase, MacMillan was injured and Price was forced to carry him to the evacuation zone, narrowly escaping the enemy.

Returning to the present, the ultranationalists launch a counterattack against 22 SAS. From the village where the safehouse is, Captain Price's men briefly hold out against the assault before they are extracted by American forces, led by Staff Sergeant Griggs, who recently served alongside Sergeant Jackson in the USMC campaign in the Middle East. A joint operation, comprising 22 SAS Regiment under command of Captain Price, a USMC Force Recon unit led by Staff Sergeant Griggs, and forces from Russian military led by Sgt. Kamarov, is undertaken to stop Zakhaev. They attempt to capture his son Victor to learn of his whereabouts, but the mission ends in failure when Zakhaev's son commits suicide after being cornered.

Zakhaev becomes enraged, blaming Western forces for the death of his son, and plans to retaliate by launching SS-27 Topol M ballistic missiles with MIRV warheads at the East Coast of the United States from a missile base held by the ultranationalist forces. The ultranationalists are well-entrenched in the missile launch center, having earlier eliminated a group of Spetsnaz from the Russian military trying to retake the facility, but the SAS/USMC operatives are able to overcome them and deactivate the missiles before they reach their target. Zakhaev's reinforcements surround the missile silos and the joint force commandeers jeeps to make their escape.

During their escape, an enemy Mi-24D Hind gunship destroys a bridge they are attempting to cross, leaving them trapped. Zakhaev's troops arrive soon after, and begin engaging the remaining members of the strike force. A wrecked gas tanker on the bridge explodes, incapacitating everyone except Griggs. Griggs is then shot in the neck while trying to pull Soap to safety. Zakhaev himself arrives on the scene accompanied by two soldiers. Gaz and many other surviving members of the strike force are executed by Zakhaev and his men, and Zakhaev is on the verge of killing Soap too, but is distracted by the destruction of the Mi-24 Hind followed by the arrival of a Russian military's Mi-28 helicopter. At this moment, a heavily wounded Captain Price slides his M1911 pistol sidearm to Soap, who then kills Zakhaev and his guards. Russian military forces arrive on the scene shortly afterwards. As MacTavish is medevac airlifted from the battleground on a Mi-8 helicopter, a Russian medic is seen desperately attempting to resuscitate Price.

After these events, news reports mention "nuclear missile tests" in Central Russia, "leadership struggles" arising in the ultranationalist party, and the attempt to locate a cargo ship lost in the Bering Strait has been called off, implying that the recent police actions in Russia were conducted in secret, and were not public knowledge.

Development

Call of Duty 4 was developed by a team of a hundred people, over the course of two years. After Call of Duty 3, the Infinity Ward team decided to move away from the World War II environment of previous games in the series. This resulted in two game concepts: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and an unnamed game set to be released in the future. While developing the story for Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward chose to avoid referencing current, real-life wars, and keep the series' common theme of two opposing forces of similar strength. To enhance the realistic feel of the game, the development team attended a live-fire exercise at 29 Palms, a Marine Corps training facility in the California desert. This helped the developers to simulate the effects of being near an Abrams tank when it fires. The team also talked with United States Marines who were recently in combat to get a feel for the background, emotions, and attitude of soldiers in combat. Veterans were also recruited to supervise motion capture sessions and the artificial intelligence design of the game.

The development team designed the online multiplayer component to be balanced and rewarding for new players while still offering something for experienced players. An early idea to implement air support (air strikes and attack helicopters) involved players fighting over special zones to access a trigger for air support against enemies. This idea was discarded because it discouraged the type of deathmatch gameplay they intended. The kill streak reward system was put in its place to encourage the improvement of player skills. Players were allowed to select weapons before matches to get accustomed to weapons more easily and minimize weapon hunting. Maps were designed primarily for deathmatch games—the developers felt such designs suited other types of gameplay as well. Map layouts were designed to minimize locations players could hide from enemy gunfire.

Audio

The music for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was mostly written by British composer Stephen Barton, who had also contributed to film scores by Harry Gregson-Williams. Gregson-Williams also composed music for the game, such as the main theme. Several music tracks from the game are available on Infinity Ward's "7 Days of Modern Warfare" website, and some are available at Barton's own web site. The rap song played during the end credits is performed by Call of Duty 4's lead animator, Mark Grigsby.

Game engine

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare runs on a proprietary engine, and with features that include true world-dynamic lighting, HDR lighting effects, dynamic shadows, and depth of field. "Bullet Penetration" is calculated by the engine, taking into account factors such as surface type and entity thickness. Certain objects, such as cars and some buildings, are destructible. This makes distinguishing cover from concealment important, as the protection provided by objects such as wooden fences and thin walls do not completely protect players from harm. Bullet speed and stopping power are decreased after penetrating an object, and the decrease is dependent on the thickness and surface type of the object. The game makes use of a dynamic physics engine, not implemented in previous Call of Duty titles. Death animations are a combination of pre-set animations and ragdoll physics. Console versions of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare run at a consistent 60 frames per second. Code was included to determine spawning points based on the nearby weapons, and enemy positions and line of sight. The various criteria is meant to minimize players dying immediately after rejoining a match.

Marketing and release

On April 27, 2007, the day before the release of the game's official trailer, Infinity Ward launched a website called "Charlie Oscar Delta" to provide information on the game. Charlie Oscar Delta features a ranking system that allows users to complete missions to increase their rank and compete for prizes. Charlie Oscar Delta is derived from the NATO phonetic alphabet and the initials of Call of Duty .

The first Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare trailer featuring game footage was released on April 28, 2007. An Xbox 360 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare public beta test was announced on August 30, 2007. The beta test was designed to test the servers, find glitches, and help balance out the weapons. It was originally only for residents of the US, but was later available to other countries. The beta concluded on September 30, 2007. The maximum rank for the beta was initially level 16,but was increased to level 25 towards the end of the beta. Three multiplayer maps were available for play: Crash, Vacant, and Overgrown.

A single-player demo for the PC was released on October 11, 2007 as a Yahoo! exclusive download, and is now available for free download. The demo includes one level, "The Bog", which showcases the advanced night vision and associated graphics capabilities

Retail versions

The game was released as a Standard Version and a Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition contains the standard retail game and a DVD containing a documentary film (168 minutes) entitled "Great SAS Missions", which consists of archive footage of the SAS in action and accounts from former SAS members. The DVD contains a "making of" featurette and a level walkthrough by the developers. Also included is a limited edition poster and an exclusive hardcover art-book featuring never-before-seen concept, development, and final in-game artwork. These elements were packaged in a larger cardboard version of the standard retail box. The Collector's Edition was originally only available in the US, but was later released in other countries.

Downloadable content

Infinity Ward released the Variety Map Pack as a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360 on April 4, 2008. It includes the stages "Killhouse", "Creek", "Chinatown", and "Broadcast". The same map pack was released for the Playstation 3 on April 24, 2008. A release date for the PC version is yet to be announced. The Variety Map Pack was downloaded by over one million people in its first nine days of release, a record for paid Xbox Live downloadable content, valued at US$10 million.

Awards

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare received awards from various game sites and gaming authorities. Both GameSpot and GameTrailers gave it the Best Graphics of E3 2007 award, and the Best PlayStation 3 Game of 2007 award. It gained high praise from both video game magazine GamePro and GameSpy, having been named the Best Overall Game of 2007 by the former, and Game of the Year by the latter. Game Critics also named the game "Best Action Game". From other authorities such as IGN and X-play, and the Spike Video Game Awards, the game won awards for areas such as Best Sound Design, Best Shooter of 2007, and Best Military Game. From the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare won Console Game of the Year, Action game of the Year, and Overall Game of the Year.

Sales

Before Call of Duty 4 was released, it was predicted to sell even more copies than the highly successful Halo 3; it had received as high reviews as Halo 3, it was launching on three systems as opposed to one for Halo 3, and demand for the game led to a wide-range of retailers only having enough available to satisfy pre-orders. It fulfilled the prediction and the Xbox 360 version became the best-selling video game in the United States from November 2007 to January 2008 according to the NPD Group. In the US, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions sold 1.57 million and 444,000 units, respectively, in November 2007; 1.47 million units of the Xbox 360 version were sold in December 2007; the game sold 331,000 copies for the Xbox 360 and 140,000 copies for the PlayStation 3 in January 2008. The Xbox 360 version was the third best-selling video game of 2007 in the U.S. with 3.04 million units sold, behind Halo 3 which sold 4.82 million units, according to the NPD Group. As of January 2008, Call of Duty 4 has sold more than seven million copies worldwide, and was the best-selling game of 2007.

Call of Duty 4 is a target of piracy, which may affect the game's sales. One of the game's developers stated, "We pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing Multiplayer [...] What wasn't fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen / cracked CD keys of pirated copies."

Criticism

Some criticism has also arisen from the latest patch on the Xbox 360, which selects the host based on a robust QoS test. The new QoS test typically tips the odds of getting host in favor of players from the United States, as the servers that are conducting this test are currently hosted in the United States. Previously users were also more likely to be the host if they were hosting a party

COD4: Modern Warfare Unlockables

Achievements

Unlock Arcade and Cheat Option

Cheats

Golden Weapons

Ranks - Unlocks

Rank up

Great news! Heads up that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map Pack sponsored by NVIDIA will be available worldwide for our PC players next week on June 5th!

NVIDIA is making it possible for PC players to download the map pack for Free on the PC thanks to their sponsorship. In addition, expect to see quite a few promotions popping up leading up to the launch of the map packs on the 5th and beyond. I know NVIDIA has a lot of great things planned for PC users in addition to maps becoming available.

There's going to be some PC specific previews going up online this weekend I believe that will cover how well the maps play on the PC version as well as some contests and promotions happening all next week. I'll be posting up details on them as they get started all this week!

The Variety Map Pack includes four new maps for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer including Broadcast, Chinatown, Killhouse, and Creek.

In addition to the map pack hitting, PC Players will be receiving the 1.6 Patch for the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that will add support for the new maps, fix a server crash exploit recently reported by the community, and a few additional features / bug fixes. I will post a full patch notes list next week.

With, whats growing to be nearly 1000, gamers locally and from all over the country making their way by land, sea (wait... it's ohio..), and air to the event for no apparent reason other than to hang out with fellow like minded gamers (and COD4 fans of course); I've decided to come fully prepared and will be packing heat... in the form of limited edition Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare t-shirts fresh off the press. We'll be throwing them out to the crowd during the party so be prepare yo' snatchin hands.

Live locally or want to make a last minute spur of the moment trip across country to the hot bed of gaming activities Cincinnati Ohio? You can find all the details over at Destructoid.com, but be forewarned... those bitches crazy.

More importantly, I want to know who's down for a trip to White Castles, Steak N Shake, and Skyline Chili this weekend? Drop me a message if you're down.

Oh yeah... did I mention I got some awesome news coming down the pipeline at the end of the week for our PC players? I can't say what it is now, but I'm sure most of you can see it coming a mile away. I'll have that info for you around Friday hopefully.

Meanwhile, those of you subscribed to the video blog and those (nearly 9 thousand) of you who sent in messages and questions you'd like to see answered in the next video blog, I have a new one currently in the works that answers a lot of your questions as well as will be giving you a sneak peek at a line of new shirts we're getting printed for Call of Duty 4 fans (and giving some away to subscribers), and one of the prototypes we already printed. I'm going to try to get that out to you guys as soon as I can (I want to capture some footage at the NARP event hopefully) to add to it, in addition to the fact that there is an awesome new Gaming site that's preparing to launch in the not too distant future that will be playing a crucial role in the future episodes of the video blog series... details on that coming wayyy later.

Conclusion - See you all in Cincinnati, drop me a line if you're in the area and we can hang out. Come to the Dtoid party, and be sure to check back at the end of the week for some great PC news!! Thanks everyone!!

Microsoft Xbox 360 with 10 million in U.S.

Among the factors that have spurred the acceptance for Xbox is the launch of a hot game "Grand Theft Auto IV," on April 29, 2008. Gamers eager to experience "Grand Theft Auto IV" online helped boost Xbox LIVE global membership to over 12 million this month, the company informs.

Further, Microsoft says that with the launch of "Grand Theft Auto IV", Xbox 360 is now the home to more than 16 platinum titles that have sold through 1 million units or more, including "Halo 3," "Madden NFL 07" and "Madden NFL 08," "Gears of War," "Guitar Hero II" and "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," and "Call of Duty 2," Call of Duty 3" and "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," giving Xbox 360 two times more platinum-selling titles than the Wii and a 16:2 lead over the PlayStation 3 in game titles topping one million in sales. Xbox 360 is claimed to have a portfolio of nearly 400 games in 37 countries.

While the global gaming console market is getting too competitive, video game and interactive entertainment industry research firm DFC Intelligence says that the biggest area of uncertainty remains the performance of the three video game console systems: the Sony PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Wii, and the Microsoft Xbox 360. DFC forecasts the market using three different scenarios and estimates that combined cumulative worldwide sales for the three systems will reach between 180 to 210 million units by 2012.

Related Article: Enter the digital playground

PC Patch 1.6

Last update I let you know we had to send it back to development due to a few bugs which we're found. Regretfully not much has changed, but the team is still working on it with plans to get it out, when I get a better ETA on when you can expect it I'll be sure to pass it along as well as details on what all it will include.

New Infinityward.com In The Works:

Right now we're working on a new design for the InfinityWard.com site that will help us make it the more OFFICIAL one-stop news and community source for fans of our games. It will essentially take the place of Charlieoscardelta.com, and replace the old Infinityward.com and give us a dedicated dev blog where I can post a lot of the stuff I typically only post here. I'll still post it all here as well as well as more non-game related things, but it will also be there too for those who aren't familiar with this blog.

We're also working on an updated dedicated forum software for it to replace our current set up, user profiles, and other new features. We're aiming to have that launched by mid-June if all goes well. Meanwhile, we're expanding our staff here at Infinity Ward in the web department and looking for someone to join me in maintaining the back-end / technical side of Infinityward.com. If you're a "web guy" and would like to join the team here at Infinity Ward to help me out with back-end web stuff, then check out the job listing on our site and apply:

Job Posting: Web Builder

The job essentially consists of maintaining the new site we're in the process of building and help as we build onto it in the future.

Online Store + New Shirts

While we're building the new IW site, we're also preparing to launch a new online store where we can offer some of the exclusive typically Dev Team only shirts we make throughout development. Such as the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shirt I wore in the first video blog I did a few weeks back. I'll also be wearing a new one we printed in the next video podcast that should be going up this week. Before the launch of the store though, in the next week or so I'm going to be posting up a few of the T-shirt designs we have planned and let you guys vote on which ones you'd like to see printed. Then we'll print them up and put them in the store for you to get. We're working on finalizing it all now, so be on the look for that in the coming week or so. The Store may launch before the new IW site, or with the full site launch in June (still working that out).

Community Mapping Contest

We're finished taking submissions from US candidates and are about to open up submissions for UK, Spain, Italy, and France soon. We're just now getting the approved legal back from all those territories now which will allow us to finalize it and get it up. Meanwhile we'll be judging the maps submitted from US users over the next few weeks.

No News on 360 or PS3 Side

At this time there's no news or updates on the console side of things. To clear up any rumors I seem to be sent a lot. We ARE NOT removing any perks or 'nerfing' any weapons now or in the future. M16 is staying as is, same with martyrdom and juggernaut. So we can put that one to rest, no changes to perks or weapons are coming.

Conclusion

That's about it for now, we lost the #1 spot on Xbox Live to the extremely fast blitz attack from GTA IV which put us into 2nd place, but I wouldn't be surprised if we make a comeback over the course of a few weeks as people start beating it's single player, whether we do or not it's great to have another great game to be fighting for the #1 spot with.

Other than that, everything else the team is working on is under wraps. I hope to get another video podcast up later this week that answers some of the over thousand questions I received from viewers of the first one, as well as give away some of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shirts I wore in the first one that you guys asked about. I have about 10 extras I plan on giving out to subscribers of the video podcast.

Microsoft's Major Nelson has posted up his weekly update of the 'Top Games on Xbox Live' again and I'm happy to say for the time being (and the past months), Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is strongly holding the #1 spot of the most played game.

As we all know, GTA IV hit today, so I expect to see it forcing it's way up the list in the next few weeks and excited to see how it takes Halo 3's place as our biggest friendly competitor for the Top Spot of the most played game on Xbox Live. We fought hard to secure and keep the #1 spot for over four months now, and I'm excited to see how quickly GTA IV rises up the list.