Good News! COD Elite Will Be ‘Fully Functional’, on 12.01.11…

Story by: CritiKiL

Activision plans to have Call of Duty: Elite fully operational by December 1 2011! This is my birthday, so of course this is a good thing for me to here. In speaking with G4, Daniel Suarez (Activision’s VP of Production), attempted to reassure users that the service will be functional in the coming weeks. His quote: “It was our fault that the service wasn’t up and running the day [fans] put in their token or the day they bought it…” and, “They kind of have to bear with us while we bring this all back up, but for us it’s literally ‘Give us those couple weeks, we’re giving those to you for free and come December 1 the goal is that we’ll have everything up and running’.”

Suarez was referring to the extended month of Elite service users will receive due to its current problems. He also provided insight into how the situation got out of hand, despite extensive beta testing. No need to quote everything he said, just rest assured that by 12.01.11 you won’t see anything but a fully functional website! But some other explainations he said worth mentioning is:

“When we ran our beta, [it] was strictly on the PC, and a lot of our assumptions were based around [the idea] that a larger majority of users were going to use the PC [interface] since it’s a more robust version of the service than the console app… / Some of that may have been incorrectly analysed, because we’re seeing 80 to 90% of our users coming straight from the console app. Right now we’re retrofitting that so that that works better across the board rather than the way it was set up…”. 

This explains alot, since the majority of Activisions Fans are Console gamers. Many users have had difficulty signing in and using Call of Duty: Elite, since it launched earlier this month alongside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Also, if you’ve all been wondering what’s up with the COD Elite “Mobile Apps“? These have been delayed, while Activision works on the console apps. The iPhone and Android applications of the social networking service have been delayed until further notice while server issues continue to be worked on. “Since we do not want to add even more stress to the back-end servers, we are holding back on launching the Elite mobile applications until the service is stable and our players can easily access it… / We will have the apps ready to launch as soon as we are comfortable the experience will be a great one, and will update with more information soon…” ~ read a Q&A on Activision‘s website.

For the ‘Bad News’, the PC version, which has already been delayed indefinitely, may never be released despite the developer’s efforts. “We are working towards a universal Elite experience but we cannot guarantee if or when a version will be available for the PC…” ~ the firm wrote on Twitter in response to a user inquiry.

Looking for other Call of Duty apps for other devices? BlackBerry free apps can be found in your service providers marketplace for help, guides and other information about Call of Duty games.

To sort of compensate us, Activision has since given paying members an additional 30 days’ subscription as a result of the ongoing issues. I can’t wait, COD Elite to be Fully Functional on my Birthday! Now there’s another present I can add to my collection on that day 😉 To remind you of why we are ALL waiting for things to be fixed, enjoy the Modern Warfare 3 Tango Behind the Scenes – Connect video below and leave us a comment or two to tell us what YOU think about this awesome accomplishment of a Gaming Franchise:

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Is ‘This’ What COD Games Have Digressed To?

 Story by: CritiKiL

COD games have almost always been of the ‘run and gun’ type. It’s now just a shame how people will do anything to get enough kill-streaks by “camping their asses off”. There’s a place for that, but not the way people play NOW. Many games which developers are putting out are not what many of us ‘mature players’ are seeking. Favoritism is going to those who know nothing about ‘team-play’ and tactics IMO. I ‘used’ to say that, ‘Camping is a Weapon‘ and that ‘Camping is a Strategy‘…But to those who’ve heard me say that, let me remind you that I was referring to gameplay where there was the goal of ‘protecting a bomb’ like in Demolition and etc. The way people camp on a totally ‘run and gun’ gameplay is not a strategy, it’s a means to acquire killstreaks quickly-enough to enable and call in total chaos of advanced weaponry and airstrikes (not to mention, Attack Dogs!) to overwhelm those who run out or run ‘inside buildings into traps’, and end the game at an unfair level.

But I shouldn’t even be talking about ‘fair’ regarding some of the latest games which have developed. I cannot believe what efforts are being put forth just to get a higher rank. What ever happened to earning medals and rewards for ‘Team-tactics’? Is getting an award for teamplay and helping a dying member by reviving him, too much to ask? It would definitely turn the tides towards people who want ‘medals’, to change their style of play to a more ‘team-oriented’ fashion. It would be a START as opposed to the way people play video games now.

This song ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops: Camper Song by BrySi Bieber‘, sums things up quite accurately. So I’ll share it with you because it tells my story much better than words could ever do ~ lol:

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Has ‘Pre-Ordering’, Gotten Out of Control?

Article and images by: CritiKiL

I haven’t pre-ordered anything in awhile. I mostly am able to get a game, console or accessory online, and now they even send the items so that they are in your house either on the release day or before. ‘Exclusive Content’ ~ Yeppers, there really isn’t any of that going on (…for the most part!) because it’s not the stores which give you the content it’s the item’s developers. Right now the only exclusivity I’ve seen, is the relationship that Microsoft has with XBox Live with COD title games arriving first and other console owners having to wait at least a month later ~ Boooh!

Lately Gamestop has been promoting the  ‘pre-ordering’ of DLC, even using the word ‘exclusive destination’ for the upcoming “Annihilation” DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops. They did it with Halo: Reach’s ‘Noble Map Pack’, offering ‘Free stuff’ ~ a Flaming Mark V Spartan Helmet for your Xbox Live Avatar.  Yay, free stuff — but that’s beside the point. The point is, GameStop is taking pre-orders on DLC (downloadable content) as Exclusive, but I thought the reason for pre-ordering was to secure a copy in case the store runs out of stock?

That’s not the case for DLC. It looks as-if GameStop’s strategy for dealing with a scarcity-free market…is to hope nobody notices the lack of scarcity. Well I’m sorry to say that this just isn’t true. Let’s make a general comparison to the ‘exclusivity’ of DLC and the proceedures for it’s apparent ‘scarcity’ of availability:

To pre-order DLC from Gamestop you’ll have to:

  • 1) Visit the store and pre-order it.
  • 2) Wail until the actual release day (not ‘before’ but on that day!).
  • 3) Recieve a download voucher in your e-mail then enter code and play.

Whereas, to get your DLC through XBox Live, all you have to do is:

  • 1) Order it on release day and play!

Now I’m not a lazy guy, but for there NOT being any advantages and NO scarcity of availability…I’ll take my chances in ‘ordering the DLC from my sofa’ ~ lmao! In my experience the only things worth pre-ordering are new consoles, since they tend to be in short supply. But DLC? ~

Looks like Gamestop is blowing something up our ___’s. They’re making us start to think that DLC might one day be ‘out of stock’ (Forgive me but this is really funny stuff here ~ lol!) In closing I’d like to say to ‘keep your eyes open to the hype’ and, ‘The whole World’s a Circus, but just don’t be the Clown’. DLC is never scarce in demand that you have to go to Gamestop, to get it. Let us know what you think? Reply to this thread…

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Black Ops ‘Annihilation’ DLC3: Confirmed!

Put aside all the speculations, Treyark has finally revealed the fact that the leaked info about a 3rd DLC, is True! The name of this 3rd installment is ‘Annihilation’ and adds four exotic multiplayer maps, plus entirely new settings for unrelenting Zombies action. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation is launching worldwide for Xbox LIVE on June 28th, 2011 at the price of $15.00, and of course…PC / PS3 console owners will have to wait nearly a month before they get their hands on it ;-(

 

 

 

 

 

The New Maps:

  • Hangar 18: Based in the controversial ‘Area 51’ and coincides w/a few conspiracy theories you’ve heard about.
  • Drive-In: Midium-sized map where all  paths lead either in or around the hangar and some nice sniper-points.
  • Silo: Based on a Russian underground nuclear missile silo. Most likely this is one of the largest maps in the game!
  • Hazard: Gold course-like, caters to the long distance players and snipers will have alot of fun because of it’s advantage being ‘distance-killing’.

Zombies Map:

I’m liking this version, it’s mostly ‘Daytime’ Zombie-fun! This version takes place in the mysterious land of “Shangri-La,” a legendary shrine lost in an exotic jungle. Never before seen undead creatures lurk within a treacherous labyrinth of underground caverns. Step carefully through deadly traps and solve the dark secrets buried within the shifting walls of a long last land.

This is not too surprising though, with the fact that in just two weeks after this DLC is launched we will see the Black Ops Elite set itself in motion. Well enough of my rambling, here’s a video for you to get all the info you need to know which includes information on the all-new multiplayer maps. Enjoy!:

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MW3 / DLC: PS3 owners, Prepare To Get Screwed…”Again!”

This is not going to be a shock to some of you that Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) is coming out this November 8th 2011. But since the release of the trailer-teaser of the game there’s been reports suggesting that once again, Activision will favor the Xbox 360 version ahead of the PS3 not just on game outputage, but on DLC releases as well. I have just read where the upcoming DLC for MW3 (with the game releasing on Nov. 8th 2011) will also be favored for Xbox in advance of the other consoles.

It’s also been noted that at the end of the reveal trailer for Modern Warfare 3, many saw the Xbox 360 logo with a message telling viewers to pre-order the Xbox 360 version. In fact, there’s NEVER any mention of the PS3 version in initial trailers when the game is being introduced! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Activision is keeping to it’s previous stance as to which version it considers, their favorite.

Now I personally saw the reveal trailer myself and then later went and saw the YouTube version. It’s quite clear that the Xbox 360 logo isn’t anywhere on the reveal trailer on YouTube! Question is:  Was it removed in fear of a PS3 resentment or possible brewing of a ‘boycott’? Inquiring minds would like to know. Although Actvision and Infinity Ward are yet to announce any sort of console deals for Modern Warfare 3, don’t be surprised if PS3 users end up getting DLC one month later “again and again” ~ much like what happens on Black Ops and seemingly every other Call of Duty game being produced.

So, as an owner of both the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, what do you viewers and readers think about this? There’s obviously some kind of an ‘arrangement’ with Activision and Microsoft to produce games for Xbox consoles, and ‘then’ port versions out to the PC’s and PS3’s. Though I don’t like it, I guess we just have to ‘live with it’. Let me know what YOU think, in replying to this thread…

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