Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare didn't receive anywhere near as much hype leading up to its release as its sequel has. That's a given considering it was the first in the Modern Warfare franchise and the first Call of Duty game to move onto the modern battlefield. We all knew it was going to be great, taking the series to all new heights with more advanced weapons and a great online experience. But it blew up. It went crazy. Halo 2 may have defined online gaming for consoles, helping make XBOX Live the great online service it is today, but COD4 seemed to redefined it. It was able to attract an all-new market of gamers to not only the genre, but also to online multiplayer gaming.
That's why to this day COD4 is still one of the most played games online, two years after its release. That's pretty amazing considering it's had to go up against the likes of Killzone 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2 and Halo 3: ODST in that time-frame, all of which have strong online communities.
What's even more amazing is that even after the release of the next Call of Duty sequel (prequel?) in World at War, COD4 still stayed in the top few games with online activity. As great as WaW has been online, it always seemed to be that little step behind COD4, no matter how much content Activision threw its way.
That's not without saying that WaW has its following, and, especially on XBOX Live, you'll find that many COD4 fanatics often switch between the two because they each offer an outstanding online experience.
But why will Modern Warfare 2 stand out? Why is it so special? If COD4 was so great, why didn't WaW receive as much hype? The obvious answer is because WaW took a "step back" to World War 2, an act many gamers and COD faithful deemed to be an actual step back in quality for the franchise.
It definitely didn't lose any quality and the final product was great, but it's the brilliance of COD4 that ultimately shifts the attention to its direct sequel. Modern Warfare 2's predecessor seemed to bring gamers of all walks together, creating one unified market that has grown substantially over the past two years. The closest thing we've seen to MW2 hype this generation was Grand Theft Auto IV hype, and even that title didn't seem to generate a united front from every specific type of gaming culture.
Reports are coming in that Modern Warfare 2 is breaking pre-order records all around the world. It might be some genius PR spin, something the unified gaming heavyweights in EB Games and GameStop have conjured up to increase product awareness. But that's doubtful. If that's not obvious from the attention this game has gotten on gaming forums around the world, then it's from the fact that pretty much every person you know that owns either a XBOX 360 or Playstation probably has a pre-order for the game somewhere. If you don't believe it, go and ask. Now. We'll wait.
So now the question is put forth to you: Have you pre-ordered Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Why? And is this game your most anticipated game ever? Why/Why not?
05/11/2009
To be in the running, all you have to do is visit the official Sacred 2: Fallen Angel website and answer the questions on My360 and MyPS3. You can answer as many of the four questions as you like.
Don't forget to check out our review either.
The character customization is a real treat, and with 500 quests, plenty of great boss battles and a cool and nicely executed story, Scared 2: Fallen Angel is a great action-RPG. The hack-and-slash gameplay might get repetitive, but if you're a diehard fan of the genre, you're probably used to that. It's essentially what makes an action-RPG an actual action-RPG.
We have three copies on XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 to give-away. You have till 5pm on Monday, August 31st to enter.
So what are you waiting for? Head on over to My360 and MyPS3 now to enter!
20/08/2009
Written By Stephen Heller
The journey of an Australian Wii Gamer has been a long and bumpy road, full of ridiculously late release dates (RE: Super Smash Bros Brawl) lack of “hardcore” titles, and things don’t seem to be shaping up to brighter horizons. Nintendo have just announced news regarding release dates for the highly anticipated Punch Out!!! and the new racing title Excitebots
That news is there is no release date, in fact the games aren’t even being picked up by local retailers. Excitebots sales have been dismal at best in the USA, so Nintendo Australia has made the judgement not to bring it into the country.
Punch Out!!! devotees will have to travel to their nearest JB-Hi Fi store as they will be the only stockists of the game in Australia. Rose Lappin, managing director of of Nintendo Australia issued this statement.
To be honest we didn’t have a lot of requests for the game,” she continued. “There’s a few people… there’s a lot of noise but not a lot of sales, that sort of thing. However there was one retailer that was chasing it, so that’s why we’ve decided to go that way. Of course, if it continues and consumers want it then that’s what we’re here for. At the end of the day if we don’t support consumers then we don’t have a business. We’re certainly here to work with what people want.”
Nintendo sure are giving people what they want....IF they live near a JB-Hi Fi store. For those of us in rural areas who don’t have a JB-Hi Fi within 100kms from our homes, it’s going to result in an inconvenient process to get the game.
It begs the question will this become a common trend with Nintendo First Party releases? Will we be faced with late releases, or in some cases no release at all, totally dictated by sales in the USA?
Is the global economic crisis putting so much pressure on the industry that it’s harder for publishers to take risks? Instead of taking these risks will publishers just choose to not release games on our shores to avoid the possibility of bad sales?
Due to Nintendo’s strict region coding importing titles aren’t as easy as it is for PC or the Playstation 3. If this becomes a popular trend many Wii gamers could miss out on their most anticipated games, due to sales in another country....
Do Nintendo really care about us?
15/07/2009
Welcome to another edition of Heller's Desk. I hope you all had a safe and happy Easter break with family and friends, and you are now back ready for some great gaming....
First title sitting on my desk this week was the newly released Episodic title from Telltale Games, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures: Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees. Fans of adventure games should know that Telltale always deliver an exceptional experience, and nothing less should be expected from the first episode in what looks like it will be a landmark series for the developer. It captures the look, feel and charm of the beloved TV series/Movies and plays more like an interactive TV program than a game. You can purchase the game from the Telltale Games website and it will be launching on Xbox Live in the near future. A featured review will be up on Myfrag and My360 in the next few days
It seems an eternity ago when Silent Hill V: Homecoming was released and then banned in Australia, but after a long wait it finally was released last week across store shelves. Silent Hill has always been a leader in the survival horror genre, and being the first in the series on this generation of consoles, it has big shoes to fill. Keep your eyes peeled for the featured review this week, but in the mean time why don't you brush up on your Survival Horror Origins
Chronicles of Riddick is dropping this week on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 and will be keeping many of you busy I'm sure. It includes the critically acclaimed Escape from Butcher Bay on the disc, which will give many of those who never had the chance to play the original, a chance to do so with fresh graphics. Gaetano is working on a featured review which will launch in the next few weeks.
Last but not least The Voice will be returning after a short break over the Easter holidays. We will be hitting it hard bringing you the latest news and reviews, and even have some interviews in the works. Also we will be bringing back the beloved Retrograde segment with our good friend Guyver!
A sudden urge to play Bioshock has washed over me so I'm off to do that, what are you guys playing this week?
28/04/2009
Today is my 22nd birthday, and while I feel a little older, I also feel like this is going to be a good year. So instead of my usual quirky desk pictures I decided to take on of my ACTUAL desk at home. You can see a 2008 iMac sitting there, 3gb of RAM and a 2.4gbz Intel Processor. This is my primary computer since I got it in September 2008. Next to it is the screen of my gaming rig, a filthy AMD X2 Athlon 6000+ with 4gb of DDR 2 RAM, with 2x 8600GTs running SLI. It's rocking Windows 7 and it get's all my gaming needs done, but could do with some new graphics cards.
Well now onto what's been hot on my radar this past week. With Dead Space out of the way I've really been sinking my teeth into Resident Evil 5 and while it's very different from past entries into the franchise, it inspired me to write an article on the origins of Survival Horror, where it's been and where it's headed. Check it out over here
Vin Diesel has crept onto my Xbox 360 for a few hours this week with Wheelman. It's a what you see is what you get, and chances are you won't like what you see. Tano has done a featured review which you can see here
The Godfather II has been taking up most of my time this week. It's harbors some very interesting gameplay mechanics, and while lacking overall polish, if you can get past the graphics and sub-par AI is a half decent play. I'll most likely play the whole way through but you can make your own judgements when the featured review launches towards the end of the week :)
What have you guys been playing?
08/04/2009
This weeks question asked by Steve Heller
What are peoples obsessions with "cutsy" games? It seems that even the
most hardcore gamers will also secretly admit to enjoying a game like
Animal Crossing or Viva Pinata, and now there is a new kid on the
block on the PS3 with LittleBigPlanet, but is the obsession
warranted this time?
LittleBigPlanet certainly has a charm of its own. Sackboy has won
the hearts of children, teenagers, parents and grandparents across the globe. The
customization available to the player appeals to all gamers, the
online components appeal to all, the level creation tools cater for
those hardcore players who want to get right in there and be creative,
so it's easy to say that LittleBigPlanet has something to offer everyone.
So if LittleBigPlanet appeals to all gamers, why is it not selling
so well here in Australia? On release week alone it didn't even make
the top 10 for Full Price Games in sales. Not surprisingly, Gears Of War 2
for the Xbox 360 was at the top, followed by Smackdown vs Raw 2009 on
the Playstation 2.
One of the PS3's biggest and most wanted exclusive of 2009 failed to make the top 10 in the sales charts. Is this due to a larger Xbox 360 console base in Australia, or is there another reason behind the poor sales?
Discuss/debate/ponder.
24/11/2008