Commander Fury is Urgent Fury’s “boots on the ground” for the biggest game release of the year!!!

As he finds himself braving the cold & crowds at his local GameStop to celebrate the launch of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the 2nd Annual Urgent Frequency Veterans Day Thanksgiving Call Of Duty Midnight Launch Party Episode. Get all the intel about the most anticipated game of the year…including gametrailers.com‘s full review of the game, and an overview of Call Of Duty: ELITE.

Plus, we wrap things up with the Thanksgiving classic….Arlo Guthrie’s – “Alice’s Restaurant“.

Story by: CritiKiL

Story by: CritiKiL

Story by: CritiKiL

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t come out until Nov. 8. But pirates have already obtained the video game — one of the most-anticipated of the year — VentureBeat has learned. The PC version of the game, or at least part of it, has been circulating among pirates in the U.S., who illegally copy and share it without paying Activision Blizzard or its retailers. That’s a big problem, as Activision Blizzard is expected to sell more than 20 million copies of the game in 2011 alone, according to Arcadia Research. That amounts to more than $1.2 billion in sales at retail. Piracy has always been a problem with video games, especially for PC titles. But the pirates go after Call of Duty because it’s the big prize. Every year, a cat-and-mouse game ensues. Activision Blizzard closely monitors manufacturing in the weeks leading up to shipment, since it only takes one stolen disk to set off the viral spread of pirated copies. But it’s hard to stop inside jobs.

Evidently, pirated discs began to spread quickly after an employee at a shipping warehouse (run by a huge shipping company) in Fresno, Calif., stole one disc. It’s not clear how many full copies spread this way, as the disc that was stolen was apparently Disc 2 of a two-disk set for the PC. Security may have been too tight for the thief to steal the other disc. The same course of events happened before last year’s launch of Call of Duty Black Ops and the year before that with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. But sales of the franchise keep climbing.

Investigators are using the same tactics as last year, knocking on doors around the country and asking people nicely to turn over and delete their pirated copies of Modern Warfare 3. Rather than face fines, many complied. A Modern Warfare pirate who was caught posted a message (below) yesterday on Craigslist. In it, the person warns others not to buy MW3 before the release date because “they will come get you.” The post says “you will be fined $5,000″ and it could result in permanent banning from online play. Then the person adds, “I already went through it.”

Story by: CritiKiL

With the lauch of Gears of War 3, one of the most anticipated games of 2011, BradyGames wants to hook up a lucky few with a free Limited Edition Gears of War 3 Strategy guide, along with three runners-up getting the Signature Edition.

All you have to do is, go to www.urgentfury.com/blog/gow3/ and sign up. If you have not liked the BradyGames Facebook page or Subscribed to their YouTube channel then you’re in luck, because after you do that you will already have enough points to qualify for the Signature Edition drawing.

It is free to enter and only US residents or APO/FPO addresses may enter to win. Good Luck! Ohh and if you are in the contest, you even get 25 points for commenting on this blog post!

Here is some info about the guide direct from www.bradygames.com

radyGames’ Gears of War 3 Signature Series Strategy Guide includes the following:

Brothers to the End

The final chapter to one of electronic entertainment’s most celebrated sagas awaits. The last human stronghold has fallen, yet the war against the Locust rages on. With civilization in ruins and its survivors broken and scattered, a new enemy—the Lambent—arises to deliver the decisive blow. Lead Marcus and his Delta Squad comrades through their desperate last fight to give humanity hope for survival. This essential Signature Series guide shows you how!

 Exhaustive Campaign Coverage- Created on-site in Epic’s studios, with direct input from the game’s designers, our in-depth walkthrough provides complete coverage of every area and encounter from start to finish. Four- Player Co-Op strategy included!

Every Collectible- We reveal the location of every last COG Tag and collectible—don’t miss a single one!

Expanded Multiplayer Content- Boost your combat effectiveness with MP-specific weapon stats, pickup location and cycle data, enemy spawn points, and winning techniques for every game type. Tactics for team-based and solo play! Get the most out of the new Beast, SP Arcade, and enhanced Horde modes!

Comprehensive Maps- Our detailed Multiplayer and Single-Player maps depict every area in the game. We pinpoint mission objectives, weapons and ammo, collectible locations, and more! MP maps provide mode-specific callouts, illustrate team strategies, and identify enemy paths and chokepoints!

 Expert Combat Training- We show you the most efficient kill tactics for every foe, and how to use terrain, movement, and cover to your advantage. Tips and tricks from Epic’s developers give you an insider’s advantage!

 That’s Not All! -Gripping artwork and riveting background content make this guide a must-have for every Gears of War™ fan. Achievement roster helps you reach 100% completion. Plus, fascinating background and character bios, indispensible weapon and enemy data, and much more!

We are only 2-Weeks into the first Urgent Fury Socom 4 tournament and we are already halfway complete with the first campaign. With 36 wars played, the standings are as follows: TNU leads with 10 points followed closely by 101, ReD, $K$, cKs, and 26* with 8. In the middle of the pack we have LPK with 6. Rounding out the field we have RVN, <N>, and WDA each with 2 points and IX still looking to pick up their first W. This tough field of competitors proved to be too steep as R2H never made it in by failing to submit their roster.

Going into week 3 of the first campaign, TNU looks to continue its winning ways after a rough start due to typos on their roster which cost them their only loss. Being the highest ranked clan in the tournament on the Socom in-game ladder, TNU has proven that they know how to win by leading the field with the most points.

A match between the current #2 and #3 seeds, 101 and ReD, resulted in a tie during the second night of wars when there was an glitch in the ladder system. Each team took a match in the first two but for some reason the game sent both teams back to their lobbies instead of sending them to the third match to determine the overall winner of the war.

$K$, cKs and 26* all locked up with 8 points each will be working to catch the current leader in hopes of capturing the top seed and a bid to the playoffs later this fall. After a close match against TNU and ReD, LPK looks to bounce back after a bumpy start. With only 6 wars remaining RVN, <N>, WDA, and IX hope to make up some ground after a very tough 2 weeks.

The Endurance format is much different than what most UF clans are used to. Previously each night would feature one war on a predetermined map and mode. Due to the lack of a party system, UF was forced to use the in-game ladder system to conduct the wars. When asked about the best-of-3 format for wars a few of the clan reps had this to say. darth_cedaus from Canadian Killing Squad said, “Love the best of 3 format. Much better than the 1-map wars back in the day.” ShadowOfaSolja from Threat Neutralizing Unit said, “Best of 3 is the only way to go ”

With a party system just around the corner, we will found out whether or not traditional 1-map per war formats will ever be possible again.

None of the clan reps had too much other to say about the tournament other than they really appreciate the great sportsmanship shown by UF clans. Respecting all of the rules set forth by tournament staff, participating clan are able to play Socom 4 without having to worry about exploits, cheating, Grenade Launchers, or Double Rounding in Bomb Squad.

Time will tell as we see how the wars play out to determine the winner of the first Socom Endurance Campaign.

At EA’s press conference, DICE showed off the superior power of Battlefield 3′s Frostbite engine, announced a window for the multiplayer beta, and took a jab at Activision’s Call Of Duty: Elite pay service.

After seeing the live demo for Battlefield 3, it’s no surprise that EA chose to end its press conference with DICE’s upcoming shooter. Before starting the demo, the DICE rep showed off some of the advancements of the Frostbite 2.0 engine. The improvements include better animation (which is particularly evident in player transitions), better destruction (the video showed teaser clips of entire buildings crumbling to pieces), a larger sense of scale, and improved rendering (I’m still not convinced that the smoke animations are being handled in real time; they’re gorgeous). Oh yeah, the audio is improved too, but DICE is already the king in the sound department, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

DICE also took the time to mention its new Battlelog initiative, a set of social and stat-tracking tools that will be available online to Battlefield 3 players. The DICE rep stated with a smile that all of Battlelog’s options, which include finding online opponents, managing friends lists, and following your stats and achievements in real time, will be available to players free of charge — a clear shot across the bow at Activision’s recently announced pay service, Call Of Duty: Elite. Whether the two services will truly be comparable remains to be seen, but DICE has always been generous with the amount of statistics it offers players.

As for the actual demo, most of it took place inside of a tank rolling across a desert that appeared to be larger than anything I’ve seen in a Battlefield game yet. Although the tank’s HUD will look familiar to Bad Company 2 players, the demo sold the sense of the player actually being inside of a tank: Several times the player transitioned between different cameras attached to the turret and an overhead drone, and looked on as another passenger loaded giant shells into the barrel. The demo ended in a shower of explosions, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that they were the prettiest explosions I’ve ever seen in a video game.

If you can’t wait to play the game for yourself, the demo also revealed that the multiplayer beta will be available across multiple platforms starting in September; the game is scheduled to be released on October 25. We’ll be bringing you more on Battlefield 3 when we get some hands-on time with the game later this week.

Welcome to 1947 Los Angeles, the setting for this year’s most revolutionary game. This fully authorized app from BradyGames features a scrollable and zoomable street map of the entire city of Los Angeles, complete with locations of every collectible Golden Film Reel, Landmark and Hidden Vehicle–plus the locations of every Shield from the Badge Pursuit Challenge DLC. Each item is accompanied by descriptive text, screenshots, and an Objective Complete feature that allows you track which ones you’ve located and which ones remain undiscovered.

Features:

* Explorable street map of the entire game
* Locations of all collectibles, including Golden Film Reels, Landmarks and Hidden Cars
* Includes locations of all collectible Shields from the Badge Pursuit Challenge DLC
* Objective Completion tracking
* Screenshots and detailed text for each collectible
* Official Rockstar Twitter feed
* Official music and sound effects

As Urgent Fury has grown in the last couple of years, so has our access to the Gaming news media.

Nemesis has done a great job of finding great articles out there to share to the community, but we are ready to move to the next level.

We are looking for a few good men or women that have the ability to write compelling content for the Urgent Fury Media Team. This can range from Blog posts to UFreqTV segments. This is a great way to get started in the gaming media industry. You can Use this for any college course required writing, etc. For those that show us you have what it Takes, we will be more than happy to help you move up to the next level.

This is a volunteer position that does not provide any compensation. All content written will become the property of Urgent Fury Holdings, but credit will be given to the author of the content.

Responsibilities:

• Create unique original content
• Investigate Gaming News
• Attend local Gaming events
• Submit Articles for editorial team review

Benefits

• Become a Published Writer
• Access to UF’s Media resources
• Great opportunity for an individual that wants to become a press writer
• Media Access to Events in your area (Boston, Seattle, etc)
• Future Opportunities with Urgent Fury as our Media Division
  expands

Areas of Interest

• Urgent Fury Blog
• Urgent Frequency Television
• Urgent Frequency Podcast

Individuals that are interested should send the following to media @ urgentfury.com

• A resume about your writing background (if you have one)
• A sample article written about Gaming or Urgent Fury
• If you are new to news reporting, tell us why you would be a good member of
  the team
• Include the City and State your are in

After taking a little “R&R“…Urgent Frequency returns with another special “live…on location” episode.

We help the rest of the world celebrate the Midnight Launch of both

SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs (Zipper Interactive) & Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm/WBIE).

Plus we have not one…but TWO exclusive interviews with

[SHO] Shadow Ops & [101] 101st Screaming Eagles…Urgent Fury‘s latest set of champions!!!

In this episode….we welcome some real heroes to talk about tactical gaming  from the perspective of

prior military service members….as we welcome the Off Duty Gamers.

Plus, we have an Urgent Fury:In Country SITREP shocker!!!

Urgent Fury Directors L to R…CIO Shane Bell, CFO Armond Compton, & COO John Ostrow at PAX East 2011.

The official attendance count for PAX East 2011 was 69,500. Breaking last year’s attendance of 52,290.

Brink TM from Splash Damage &  Bethesda shows off it’s final build of the game before it’s scheduled

launch on May 17th, 2011.

Don’t worry little buddy….the wait is almost over.

SOCOM 4 launches on April 19th, 2011.

Zipper Interactive’s Kevin Scmitt (Lead Designer, SOCOM 4) gives his Zipper colleagues a

crash course in the mysterious art of Parkour.

Urgent Fury covered the PAX East 2011 SOCOM 4 tournament.

Where 64 fans got to compete for a very nice trophy.

This guy has his sights set on victory. And a shot at SOCOM superstardom.

Shane Bell on the PAX East 2011 SOCOM 4 tournament…

“it  had all the intensity of classic Urgent Fury tournaments”.

The team of 8 shooters who won it all, are scheduled to be featured on a future episode

of Urgent Fury’s podcast Urgent Frequency.

This is just one of the reasons that Urgent Fury has plans for several

“live” tournament events in the coming year.

Stay tuned for more on PAX East 2011!!!

Urgent Fury CFO Armond Compton gets a hands on sample of Zipper Interactive’s SOCOM 4 at PAX East 2011. (Inset) Urgent Fury Media Assistant Will “disfsk3x14″ Pulistar gets some stick time on SOCOM 4 as well.

He says…Meow!

Stay tuned for continuous updates from the expo.

Urgent Fury CIO Shane Bell stops by for a very “loosey goosey” episode of Urgent Frequency.

An episode that features the usual Urgent Fury SITREP, a complete PAX East 2011 Preview, a surprise guest, and Charlie Sheen. WINNING! Duh!

With all of the questions that surround the next title in the SOCOM:U.S. Navy SEALs franchise, Urgent Fury decided to do some forward RECON to get some real answers regarding what some are saying, is the most important release in the franchise’s long history.

After being invited to participate in ZIPPER INTERACTIVE’S SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs “MEDIA DAY“ event in Redmond, WA…..Urgent Fury immediately deployed UFreq correspondent Brian “Inadub” Carey, and he joins Commander Fury with a full report which includes the official SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs press conference.

All that…plus UF gets a new “home”.

In the first episode of the new year, Commander Fury welcomes Clan Leader TheCaracarn of  The Aiel Sept. The very first UF:The Gauntlet Champion. We’ll get you up to speed with an Urgent Fury Sonic SITREP. We’ve got a preview of Chapter 2 of the year long End Of Days storyline….Urgent Fury: In Country.

Plus…if you’re looking for the perfect gift…our brand new almost-NSFW Spoof Ad, puts an idea in your head.

All that and more….Hooyah!

Back by popular demand…Sam”Doc” Castannon III stops by to talk about his new podcast, and to update us on The Tester (Season 2).

Plus, Urgent Fury Command passes along hard dates regarding Urgent Fury:Cold War. And confirms the launch of  a TACMAP tournament event for Call Of Duty:Black Ops for both PS3 & XBox.

This episode features an exclusive interview with Clan Uprising’s Matty2D & Ravenfall’s Paramedic. The 2 discuss the highlights of the UF:Black 2010 (2nd Evolution) Championship match.

Plus, we turn to gametrailers.com to find out if HALO:Reach can succeed without Master Chief, the franchise’s iconic main character. And we remember 9/11.

Commander Fury & Urgent Fury’s new Director Of Marketing Julian Dossantos share a pint. Plus, EA/DICE faces a possible legal fire fight because of questionable content in the forthcoming Medal Of Honor reboot.

This week we feature a special guest as Inadub prepares to try and Test the waters:

• Sam “Doc” Castanon III from Season One of the Tester tells how it is
• Prize Packs prepare to ship
• Sit Rep
• and so much more…

Urgent Fury is once again hosting the ever popular tournament, The Crucible, designed exclusively for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and now Modern Warfare 2.  This tournament comes on the heels of the recently released Stimulus Map Pack for Modern Warfare that debuted in March of 2010.

This iteration of The Crucible: Stimulus Edition, will be a set schedule played on MWF @ 9pm CST for 4 weeks.  A single elimination bracket tournament will be held to determine the overall Champion of this event.  Coming back to The Crucible will be Theme Nights.  Theme nights add a little more challenge and fun to the normal run and gun.  Many of these “Theme Night” events will cause you to change around your normal strategies, but will provide very fun and intense gameplay.

Sign Up applications for this tournament have opened up today, June 7th, and will end on Friday June 11th @ 11:59pm CST.  More dates to come during this week.

Sign Up applications are located on the Urgent Fury forums (www.UrgentFury.com) under the Current Tournament section in the forums.  The standings, Rules, War Schedule will be listed on The Crucible website located @ www.UrgentFury.com/crucible.

Urgent Fury Black is upon us!!!

Searching for the Next Socom Part IV

Foreword:

I began this year with the highest hopes that my Search for a game that gave me back the excitement, the all night gaming marathons, the anticipation felt when I was driving home from work on a night in which my clan and I were scheduled to play a major war against another clan in a battle for territorial control in a Urgent Fury tack-map tournament was back. A feeling which I haven’t felt since Socom II and a percentage of Socom III/CA. Would at long last my search be over?

How long had it been? How long have I been searching for the next Socom? Part I of this series was written back in Nov of 2007. Has it been that long? Have I been searching for two years? The word Socom in these series has taken on the role of a metaphor. It no longer equates to a specific title, I use the word to describe what was once the best in online shooter gaming. Today that notion seems to be lost. There is no “best” just a haphazard array of offerings that provide a tidbit of the qualities that make up my metamorphic ideal of Socom.

This was to be the year, the time was finally upon us. Slant Six’s Socom Confrontation was finally due to be released and I along with my clan, friends and the community of urgent fury were on pins and needles in anticipation. I played the beta for hours upon hours going over Crossroads until I knew every square inch of the map. There were problems, sure but it was a beta and I like a lot of my mates chalked it up as a part of what a beta was all about. Surely they would fix these things before releasing the game.

It’s finally here

I stood in line to get my pre-ordered copy. It was pre-ordered so I didn’t really have to stand in line, yet there I was. I was so excited that it didn’t matter I wanted my game and I wanted it as soon as possible. I rushed home reading the box at every stop light going over the features listed with an exhilaration. This is it! this is what I’ve been searching for. Its finally here and tonight is my night bro! For the first couple of weeks I tried in earnest to convince myself that I had found my holy grail. But something was wrong there was a tiny voice in my head that kept repeating “something isn’t right” in my mind. I refused to listen, I tried to convince myself that I was just being picky, that this title was the end all be all. I was like a kid at a candy store trying to persuade myself that the prize in my box of cracker jacks made up for the staleness of the caramel popcorn. In the end I realized the prize was just a worthless cheap whistle. A roll of duck tape wouldn’t keep the whistle from breaking sooner or later.

Holy Patch Batman:

If it isn’t broke fix it anyway. If it is broke than duck tape it. If the duck tape tears apply more duck tape. That seemed to be the general thought the game developers had. Each patch seemed to only slow down the leak on one side of the boat only to spring a new one on the other side of the hull. Socom seemed to need constant bailing in order to stay afloat. For me the boat sank.. even the Socom life preserver didn’t save me from the sharks. The game now sits on the shelf collecting dust next to other titles I no longer play. For those that continue to play it and enjoy the release I am however delighted that they are able to do so. I wish I could say the same, but I simply can’t: Confrontation is not the Socom I was searching for.

What does the future hold?

My hopes are that Sony puts more effort into their franchise title. That they give me the Socom of my dreams. That they follow the format which made the title so successful in the past. That they develop and release a Socom title free of defects. Part of me knows this is wishful thinking, that I should just try to make the best of what is available. Believe me I have tried. I can’t help it.. if when it comes to Socom I have high standards. I realize this leave me sitting on the sidelines waiting to see if a future game release gives me back the all night gaming Socom addiction I once had. Knowing the odds of getting the silver whistle in my box of cracker jacks are extremely rare won’t stop me from buying a box. Is it too much to ask that the popcorn at least not be stale even if the prize is a piece of junk? Still searching for the next Socom.

Searching for the next Socom
Searching for the Next Socom Part II
Searching for the Next Socom Part III
Searching for the Next Socom Part IV