COD, eat, COD, sleep. Repeat.
By Ben Salter
”Period Pains?.. Try getting knifed in the back on COD!” This is one of thousands of groups to appear on Facebook about none other than the almighty COD. Call of Duty, including Modern Warfare, but more-so referring to the more recent Modern Warfare 2, has become an epidemic. No longer is it just a videogame, it’s a way of life. While the same can be said for games like WoW, COD is different. It isn’t played exclusively by dedicated gamers. Everyone knows what COD is.
COD is compulsory in a young man’s life. It seems that every male in their teens and twenties plays Modern Warfare 2. From the hardcore gamers, to the casuals, to siblings, relatives, friends, non-gamers and even the people who once ridiculed you for being a gamer. Yes, you’ll probably find the very people who called you a nerdburger for playing games in primary school are now addicted to COD. And to make things worse, if you’re a serious gamer, they’re probably better at it than you. Why? Because you play other games. I play heaps of games, all diverse and different to each other. As a result, I’m only just about to hit level 50 in Modern Warfare 2. At a party last week I talked to a couple of guys who’d probably spent a grand total of 10 minutes in their lives playing games before the Call of Duty phenomena, and to my surprise I found most of them were at least 2 times prestige.
Of course, most of these guys are playing on consoles. That said, a few that I spoke to were playing on PC - where the game is hated with a passion by serious gamers. Now, said gamers claim it’s all down to the lack of dedicated servers. I agree that this is annoying, but it’s no reason to completely boycott what is otherwise a decent game. As each day passes the PC gamers that boycotted MW2 are becoming increasing pleased with their decision. However, I believe this comes down to the COD epidemic. When a game becomes more than a game with the general public, outside of the gaming community, serious gamers must revolt. To an extent the same thing is happening in the console community. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a great game (albeit too many snipers for my liking), but I believe its fast take up is because COD is becoming too mainstream. Face it, you don’t non-gamers hanging out on your turf, and you especially don’t like them dominating. It’s one of the main reasons serious gamers love to hate the Wii. Sure, it’s got too much shovelware, but there are some gems that you won’t find on other consoles. A number of dedicated gamers are willing to overlook these because the Wii has become too mainstream for their liking.
COD, COD, COD, COD!The outbreak of Facebook groups relating to COD says more about its status in society than anything else. I’d wager that almost everyone reading this article had joined, or seen their friends join, COD related groups. I’m perfectly aware that first person shooters are played by girls. Apparently close to half of Halo 3’s online players are female. I don’t have any problem with that, in fact I think it’s great, but COD is not in the same boat. According to my stats page, I’ve played 20 odd hours of Modern Warfare 2 online. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d never played with a single girl. The COD epidemic is overrun by men. It’s taken gaming back to the pre-Wii and PS2 days, when it was considered to be a boys thing. In saying that, it’s still had an affect on better looking half of society. Most of my female friends have joined a group along the lines of “If a guy texts you while he 's playing CoD, he really likes you”. They’re all very much aware of the power of COD, and no doubt are under the impression all we do is play Call of Duty. You know, like how all males think girls strip down to their underwear and have pillow fights in their spare time (it happens!).
I could go on for days. COD has become more than a game; it’s a social requirement. Serious gamers are, or will start, becoming increasingly threatened by their turf being taken by a bunch of cocky non-gamers. As such, I think more and more will look to rival titles such as Battlefield. However, the pull of COD will be too great. We’ll end up heading back there as its stranglehold over the universe continues. COD - it’s a freaking epidemic!
12/03/2010
My360 will be hosting an official XBOX Live Playdate at 8pm (AEST) on Friday, April 2nd. The game played will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
All you need is an XBOX Live Gold membership and a copy of Modern Warfare 2.
Four My360 volunteers will be hosting the event, which will fill up quick as it will be advertised on both the XBOX Live website and the XBOX Live Dashboard - only so many people can be in a party!
All you have to do is confirm your attendance and add the gamertags of the hosts listed here. This will give us a good idea of numbers ahead of the night. Please request a game invite on the night.
The night will probably either consist of two parties with two hosts each, or four different parties with four different hosts. This will depend on the number of participants.
Head on over to the Official Discussion to talk to other participants ahead of the event.
So make sure you're part of the action. It looks set to be an awesome night of gaming!
Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions/requests.
11/03/2010
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
It's been a rather slow week in the gaming world, giving you all a chance to catch up on those games you haven't finished before the end of year season is upon us.
Many of you have already finished this title, but Batman: Arkham Asylum has kept me rather busy the past week. I've really enjoyed my time on Arkham, and this is a surprise hit title for me! Still sitting on the fence after playing the demo? Why not read our feature review? Batman: Arkham Asylum.
I was one of the many lucky folks who snagged a Uncharted 2 beta code last week from EB Games Twitter give-away so I'll be waiting to get into that this Tuesday! Those who pre-order the game from EB also get access to the beta so if you can't wait to get online with this game, head down to your local EB today.
This weekend I got the chance to go through the paces of the DLC pack for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. Reborn runs a story parallel to that of the main game, and while it doesn't do anything to expand the story or the universe, it's a decent addition to the already great game. If you already own F.E.A.R 2 and want to extend it another 2-4 hours, then check out our review here.
So now I'm just counting down the days till Scribblenauts, Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2!
What are you guys and girls looking forward to playing?
14/09/2009
So I've decided to retire the Heller's Desk segment, mainly due to the fact I was getting hard pressed to find good desk pics! So welcome to Heller's Den, a chance for me to throw out what I've been researching, playing and looking forward to.
As many of you will know, Batman Arkham Asylum is the hot topic right now, and rightly so! It's a fantastic game and I'm only a few hours into it!. Tano is busy working on the featured review, but until then, why not check out Batman's Greatest Gaming Moments.
While I wait patiently for Uncharted 2 to be released for the PS3 I've started to play Killzone 2 online quite a bit recently. It's a little harder than your average shooter, but it is so in-depth and is a great change of pace!
On the Wii front I've been getting into a lot of Wii Sports Resort, The Conduit, Punch Out!! and I've been getting back into some Grand Slam Tennis which is great fun for local multiplayer!
So we have a huge few months coming up, with such games as Modern Warfare 2, Scribblenaughts, Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band Beatles the list is growing every day!
What are you guys and girls looking forward to playing?
04/09/2009
It's back, bigger, badder, and better than ever before. E3 is here on our doorsteps, the biggest gaming exhibition the world has ever seen, which is constantly the event when all the juiciest content is revealed. What are my predictions for this years E3 Expo?
Xbox 360
When looking on the boards there hasn't been that much talk of great, exclusive content coming out for the Xbox 360 in the next twelve months. Microsoft will be showing us more of Halo: ODST which was a given, but other than the staple cross platform titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the like, information on exclusives are lacking.
Epic could be set to release information on a either some serious DLC for Gears of War 2 or possibly the expansion with a new title in the series, but this is purely speculation.
There has been a lot of talk about some type of motion sensing device for the Xbox 360 for a number of months now, and with increasing leaks of "information" it is likely that IF such a device is in the works, we are going to see it at E3.
I think E3 will spell out the fate of the Xbox 360. IF there is a lack of content, I feel we will get an announcement by the years end of a new console coming out in the next twelve months. The Xbox 360 has been in our houses for quite some time now, and has almost reached the pinnacle of it's potential. E3 could be the clue that tells us if a new console is closer than we expected.
Wii
Ahh the Nintendo Wii, the little console that could. It's dominance in sales since it's release is impressive, but is let down by it's lack of decent games. Once again, not much is on the cards for Nintendo, and in true Reggie style, I think we will get some corkers announced at E3.
First of all The Conduit will be high on the lists, to continue the hype train as it inches closer and closer towards release. Top this off with Motion Plus and of course a more in-depth look at Wii Sports Resort we will get a taste of what we can get our hands on very soon.
With the release of the DSi we can expect some big titles coming out along with a spiel on the DSi Ware titles. Nintendo should also be ready to unveil a storage solution for the Wii, it's been a hot topic for an eternity, and E3 would be the perfect time to address it.
Mature gaming is going to be high on the list, and we will see a bunch of info on the new Resident Evil title and of course Dead Space Extraction
Purely speculation but I have a feeling we will see one of the big Nintendo franchises with a new title on the Wii, I'd be leaning towards a new Legend of Zelda title.
PS3
Killzone 2 is out, Infamous is on the way, what is next for the big black box from Sony? Uncharted 2 will surely be on display, along with God Of War III and I'd be leaning towards getting some more info on Gran Turismo 5.
Sony has a really good chance at domination in 2009, and E3 is going to be make or break it for the console, especially IF Microsoft announce a new Xbox coming to the streets in the next twelve months.
Heavy Rain will steal the show this year, it's been sitting there with some teasers every now and then, and it would be a perfect setting for David Cage to show the world exactly how far his team have pushed the PS3. It could be the underground title that really propels the PS3 to greatness
Heller's Wish List
*Alan Wake
*Sadness
*Max Payne 3
*New Valve Title
*LA Noir
15/05/2009