Modern Warfare 2

Microsoft made an interesting announcement in San Francisco while re-launching the X series of events for Xbox 360 home gaming platform. The software giant said that it is partnering up with Infinity Ward and also with Activision Blizzard to deliver Modern Warfare 2’s exclusive piece of downloadable content during spring.

However, the company refused quote any clear date. This means that the work is still ongoing on the DLC and any further details will be delivered in a few months.

It seems that Microsoft is having a long run strategy of securing and and also delivering exclusive DLC for high profile cross platform releases such as the Modern Warfare 2 and GTA IV.

The spring bouquet will probably be consisting new maps for the multiplayer component. This is in fact the most enduring element of the experience as time passes by. It may also be for a fresh game mode.

Gamers who have purchased MW2 on PS3 or on the PC may also be getting the exclusive content after a few months. The same happened earlier with The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony that were initially made exclusive to the Xbox 360, but now both are available cross platform.

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After the record-setting popularity of Modern Warfare 2, Activision Blizzard now posts a better-than-expected results on Wednesday saying that it but still couldn’t manage a profit.

Modern Warfare 2 though has sold over 12 million copies, but the loss of the company grew to $286 million in 2009’s last three months due to accounting changes and also because of a hefty reduction of music games value such as Guitar Hero and some other titles for the Wii console of Nintendo.

Bobby Kotick, the CEO of the company said, “Last year was a really tough year in the category. The casual consumer in an economy like this one is going to be very cautious about where they spend their dollars.”

The shares of Activision rallied in after-hours trading after the company announced that it would be paying an annual stock dividend. The company even announced about a $1 billion stock buyback program. In the regular session, the shares of the company added 5 cents, to $10.10. Later on they rose to $10.55.

Kotick also added, “It shows you the strength and confidence we have.”

In the holiday quarter the sales were led by CoD and games like World of Warcraft in online. The monthly fees of it makes the company compared with other software games

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Modern Warfare 2 has made a record by becoming one of only a handful of entertainment franchises that has taken a revenue of over $1bn says the publishers.

The game was released on November 10 and had made an estimated sale of $550m in just first 5 days.

The sales of MW2 has put the game alongside other games of $1bn titles like the Guitar Hero III and the World of Warcraft. Both owned by the same publisher Activision.

This sales has also puts the game alongside other entertainment franchises like the 3D science fiction smash Avatar.

On the 4th January reveal, the Avatar is the fourth-biggest film that has been ever made.

Well, direct comparisons between video games and films are difficult because the retail of games are between 3 and 5 times than the cost of a cinema ticket.

Michael Rawlinson, Director General of Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) said, “The phenomenal success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was undoubtedly one of the leading entertainment stories of the year and firmly established videogames as one of the leading forms of entertainment in the UK.”

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Microsoft recently announced that all the new content of Modern Warfare 2 will be coming to Xbox 360 first and then it would hit other platforms. There were two reactions among the fans of MW2 with this announcement.

Those fans who are having Xbox 360 got excited where as those who don’t have it complained that Microsoft seemed again locking down content by issuing large checks.

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said that he thinks it to be like a sports team, in which when one signs up a star athlete for the team. He adds, “when you sign that free agent, I think it makes your team better. At the end of the day, we want to turn as many people as possible into Xbox 360 fans.”

He also talked about the line-up Microsoft of exclusive content in 2010 as being incredibly strong. He said, “And then to say, on top of that, to take the biggest game of last year, and be the exclusive place you can get that downloadable content first, I think that’s a big deal. That’s a big reason you’d want to buy an Xbox 360 instead of another console. So we think from a business standpoint that’s part of the reason more people are buying the Xbox 360, more people are on Xbox Live, it’s part of the reason more people are buying Modern Warfare 2—more than two to one our box vs. the PS3.”

Greenberg even points out the “bet” Microsoft had put on this game by putting out the custom console. He says that Microsoft wants to follow up the trend of offering the content first.

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Modern Warfare 2 is the biggest money spinner for Activision and it has also become the biggest money spinner for the pirated games market. According to Torrent Freak, MW2 is the most pirated game for 2009.

Activision has sold over 13 million copies. This is legal. The illegal part is that the PC edition of Modern Warfare 2 has been downloaded over 4 million times and around one million times the Xbox edition. So, the total illegal downloads of the game is over 5 million.

Other games that were downloaded in 2009 over 2 million times for PC are The Sims 3, Prototype, Need for Speed Shift and Street Fighter IV. Not only for PC, most of them have also been downloaded for the Xbox 360.

The New Super Mario Bros game was downloaded illegally downloaded over one million times according to Torrent Freak. This has been followed by Punch-Out and Wii Sports Resort.

Earlier the older games were most pirated. But in 2009 it is a surprise that the same year released games were most pirated. The biggest surprise is that Modern Warfare 2 was launched at the end of the year i.e. November 10.

One more interesting fact in the pirated market for year 2009 is that the most pirated games are actually PC downloads and not for the gaming consoles.

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It was a huge November for Modern Warfare 2. It crossed 6 million marks in its sale in the month. Recently the Product Manager of Microsoft Xbox 360 Aaron Greenberg also said in an interview that it would have been a different month without the blockbuster hit of Infinity Ward.

He said, “November without Modern Warfare 2 would have looked very different.”

Greenberg further added in the interview to G4TV, “There’s titles that appeal within the inner circle of the core, but this is that title everyone that owns a video game console buys… If they buy two games a year, this was one of those games.”

He also mentioned that the software numbers would have been looked much different and he thinks that people would have spent so much of money on another game. He added that MW2 stopped people from buying other tech gadgets.

Greenberg also said, and it is true even, that Modern Warfare 2 was just like a new blockbuster movie in November. He added that it is an event and people knew about it.

Well, would the MW2 in would have been as huge? May we know from your comments below.

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Recently almost all the gaming websites reported that the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 may be delayed. They cooked the story that it will not be launched on 10th of November. Well, it was all made up stories. Robert Bowling today tweeted that they are not sure of the delay. They are also as anxious as the PC players and they will let to know all the fans of MW2 soon about this.

Here is what was written of Twitter:

“I know our PC players are anxious for official word. I am as well. I will let you know as soon as I do. I promise.”

So, all PC players, no need to worry about all the not-so-correct news of different websites. Have patience for the latest update on Twitter and do keep commenting.

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Little more of Modern Warfare 2 after October 4 Infamy Trailer. A fresh one. A new video emerged out of the recent event held by Infinity Ward.

This video footage of MW2 depicts use of sniper and it shows some lobbies and stuff. Though this may not be very interesting for casual Modern Warfare fan, but it may delight those itching for the game, surely.

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The standard videogames should be about looking forward towards evolution. Modern Warfare 2, going to prove the best RPG in the gaming industry, should open gateways of evolution into the future and close the past. But…

…unfortunately it is depicting a Washington under siege.

The trailer released on 4th October (Sunday) depicts it. The crybabies or the pot stirrers think something similar. If we cross-check few of the forums dedicated to MW2, many of them several times mentions this is not the first time Washington has been destroyed on screen. According to them this may be one of the first times a video game imagery has surfaced the 9/11.

The question: Does MW2 go too far in destruction? Is it more offensive?

The MW2 trailer which was debuted at NFL game has till now racked about 200,000 views since it was posted on YouTube and reports are also there that total pre-order of the game is over a million.

If we take a closer look then we may notice that this summer all video games based on current events are seeing something of a surge. Well, may be MW2 is a bit different than the cartoon Flash game released a year before, may be. At least Modern Warfare 2 is not trying to make the object to try to hit George W. Bush with a shoe.

Give a thought…

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