infinity ward

I’m back from Las Vegas and most importantly the Call of Duty 4 National Champsionships that were held there this past weekend as part of the MLG National Finals. While I was there I met with up team FeaR (seen above) who took home the title as the best Call of Duty 4 players in the country. I watched over their shoulders as they shut out EnvyUs three games straight in some of the most impressive COD4 skills I’ve ever seen.

I caught up with (Robert) FeaR Assass1n, Kevin (FeaR Choppy), Joey (FeaR Moho), and John (FeaR PacMan) just after their win, before they scored their giant check, to congratulate them and talk about flying them out to the Infinity Ward studios at some point in the future.

While team FeaR came out as the best, 2nd place EnvyUs, 3rd place Head Trauma, and 4th place TBRE (seen below) were still some of the best Call of Duty 4 players I’ve witnessed. The fucking speed of some of these guys was incredible.

While sheer speed and skill will get you far, it definitely won’t get you the National Champion title which takes a lot more than just the ability to get quick headshots. The most impressive part of watching professional teams play is the level of communication they use (keeping the mics clear of useless information) and relaying the location of every enemy, what weapon they’re using, and any other useful information as they see it.

Overall the entire event was impressive, and a great debut for Call of Duty 4’s first live national champsionships. It was great to meet up with the MLG staff, and I have plans to meet up with them more formally once we get back to the studio and talk about how we can make Call of Duty 4 and it’s professional players a more prominent role in future seasons / tournaments.

Congrats again to FeaR on taking home the cash and title. Expect to hear from me once I get back to the studio.

In addition to those competiting in the tournament, I met up with several of our community members to talk “shop” and discuss Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward, and get some of their direct feedback on what we can continue to improve on in the future (in terms of game development and a CRM point of view). I had lunch with Chase (Th3 Wiz4rd) and Brett (Th3 VerDict) on Saturday as well met with DpG Witness (when he wasn’t coaching teams). It was great to meet you guys and learn the meaning of “Jugger-twatting”.

The MTV Game Awards is this weekend in Berlin, Germany and we’ve been invited to attend thanks to our nominaton for the “Let’s Play Together Award” for Best Multiplayer Game. Regretfully, we won’t be able to make it out to Berlin for the live show, but we’ll be recording a little video tomorrow morning to show our appreciation and thanks to all of our German players who voted and supported the game in the awards, just in case. So if you’re part of our German game community, be sure to check the show this weekend, more info here www.mtvgameawards.de.  

My Fallout 3 character. (Feral Mask + Chinese Spy Uniform)

Over 60 hours of gameplay later, and I’ve finally finished Fallout 3 this weekend; Holy hell was that an amazing game. You can definitely beat it in half that time, but I savored the gameplay, and completed every main and side quest before beating the main story line - as well as maxing out my character at the level 20 cap. I love the amount of detail and thought that went into every aspect of this game. Bethesda did a great job of really immersing you in their world and I’m kind of depressed it’s over. I still need to find a few bobbleheads and do a few random achievements, but for the most part it’s over, and I’m gonna miss it. 

Although, thankfully I can get back to living a productive life now that it’s over, not to mention focus on finishing up Gears of War 2 (on the last level) and Mirrors Edge (on Chapter 6).

Hopefully I can finish them both up before Friday, because my entire weekend is being spent in Vegas. I’ll be flying in to attend the first ever LIVE tournament for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare at the MLG’s National Championships. There will be over $340,000 in cash prizing up for grabs overall this weekend - which will promptly be blown on hookers and blow immediately following the event. So be sure to drop me a line if you’re in Vegas or competing in the tournament. I’ll be held up at the Hard Rock where the event is taking place, so stop by and say hey. We can get together and gamble our life savings away in a horrible drunken rage. 

Friday went by pretty quick today. It kicked off with our standard weekly Leads meeting, where all dept. leads sit down and talk about what’s happening in their individual deprtments; but once that was wrapped, I headed to the lobby to meet up with this years World Series MVP and Phillies pitcher, Cole Hamels. Seen above (on the right) with one of our resident baseball fanboys and animators, Chance Glasco (left).

For being the most highly sought after player in league right now, after securing the MVP award at the World Series recently, he’s an extremely down to earth guy and a most importantly a huge gamer as attested to by his wife who confirmed he’ll disappear for days only to reappear fully bearded from a week of uninterrupted gaming. A life style I can relate to.

Although, from talking to Cole, it seems those game-a-thons are few and far between, especially when preparing for the World Series. He said gaming during the season is typically reserved for the early hours of the morning after games, when him and fellow team mates jump on. So if you’re playing between 11pm - 2:30 am and hear an abnormal amount of baseball talk, then you know why.

We gave him a tour around the studio while he was here, and it was especially interesting when we were showing off some of our Motion Capture. Cole started talking about how he’s done it before, but not for a game. He uses Motion Capture to record and analyze his pitching form, so that they can determine how to further improve his pitching and prevent injuries.

It was a good visit. It’s always nice to meet fans of the game, especially if were fans of theirs. Cole admitted he’s not alone in his COD4 addiction, saying he typically parties up after games with fellow team mates like Adam Eaton or teams they’re facing that day like the legendary Ken Griffey Jr. 

Just goes to show, you never know who you’re going up against when you log on. 

Call of Duty 4 will be making it’s First Live Circuit Appearance at the 2008 National Championships in Las Vegas in two weeks (November 21st - 23rd) at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Several of us here at Infinity Ward, including myself, will be flying over to Vegas to celebrate and support our community members competing in the event.

Check out what MLG had to say about the event:

Call of Duty 4, MLG’s first Online Pro Circuit title, will be featured as a live competition at the November 21-23 MLG 2008 National Championships. Throughout the 2008 Season, Call of Duty 4 teams battled it out through the course of three Online Pro Circuit Competitions. Come Vegas though, the teams will meet face-to-face for the first time this season as they do battle for some serious cash and the title of 2008 National Champion. 

The Top 8 Call of Duty 4 teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket in Vegas. Six teams have automatically qualified for the National Championships by finishing in the Top 2 in any of the three Online Pro Circuit Competitions. The other two teams have been determined by cumulative ranking points. These teams will play using a closed-circuit internet connection, ensuring the highest match quality possible. 

MLG will be providing editorial coverage of the Call of Duty 4 National Championships all weekend long, so be sure to tune in and see who will win the first Call of Duty 4 National Championship. Be sure to check out the prizes, rules, and schedule below, and remember that Vegas is open to all spectators. Best of all, spectatorship is completely free, so don’t miss out on the most intense Call of Duty 4 action of the year! 

I’ve booked a suite at the Hard Rock (where the event is taking place) so I don’t miss a single part of the action. If you are competing or going to be in Vegas during the event, be sure to drop me a line and let’s meet up. Especially if you’re competing and I don’t know about it, because we need to hook you up with some IW / COD4 swag to represent at the event.  Good luck to all of our teams competing for some cold hard cash. 

The 26th Annual Golden Joystick Awards were held in London this past weekend, and I was stoked to get the call that we had won Four awards during the ceremony this year.  Included in those four was the Ultimate Game of the Year award as well as three other GOTY awards included below:

Nuts All-Nighter Multiplayer Game of the Year
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Infinity Ward

PC Game of the Year (Sponsored by The United Kingdom e-sport Association)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Infinity Ward

Games Radar Online Game of the Year
Call of Duty 4 - Infinity Ward

Virgin Media Ultimate Game of the Year
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Infinity Ward

What made the awards even more humbling was the fact that they were voted on and the winners determined by over 850,000 gamers; which personally are the most rewarding accolades to get.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to vote in the awards and honor us with these, we really do appreciate every recognition we get.  Thank you!

Starting this Thursday the 18th (and going till the 25th), we’re going to be kicking off a full week of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare promotions on PS3. Starting with the #1 DLC on PSN, the Variety Map Pack, dropping to $4.99 all week long. In addition, you’ll be able to rack up double XP and rank up all weekend from Friday - Sunday. I’m aiming to beat my personal best of 45 ranks in one weekend and aiming to rank up a over a full 55 ranks on PSN. I’ll be partying up with a few of the IW crew on Friday from Noon - 4 pm (PT) to take advantage of the double XP. Be sure to add the following PSN IDs to your friends list or send us invites if you see us online:

Fourzerotwoiw

COD4qaBurx

COD4qaEd

COD4artist_OLO

COD4qaNairb

COD4studioVince

COD4studioJason

While the official Play with Devs event is Friday, I’ll be playing all week long, so anytime you see me online drop me a line and let’s get some games going. 

Heads up that this weekend from Friday the 12th - Sunday the 14th on Xbox Live (PS3 event will be later, closer to the 18th), we’ll be having Double XP all weekend long on every playlist. In addition, we’ll be doing some DLC promotion on the Xbox Live Marketplace that will allow you to download the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map  Pack for 50% off, which means you’ll be able to snag all four maps for just 400 MS points. 

That’s not all though, thanks to so many of you who have written in and requested; we’ve been able to work it out to get the Prestige Gamer pic pack back on the marketplace for download for all those who missed out on it’s limited offering during our last LIVE fire weekend. 

Some of the IW crew and myself will be jumping on this weekend to prey on all the new Variety Map Pack owners wandering lost in Chinatown, ripe for the picking. Be sure to add the following Xbox Live gamertags so you can join in on some of the games:

The official Play With Devs time is Noon - 4pm PDT on Saturday, but we’ll be jumping on and off unofficially all weekend long. This is all going down exclusively on Xbox Live this weekend, but don’t worry PS3 players, because we’ll be doing the same for you guys ; but due to schedule conflicts we couldn’t do them back to back so the PS3 weekend will be closer to Sept the 18th  (I’ll have a dedicated post for our PS3 users on that event), but you can expect some of the same benefits and festivities. 

Looks like one of our PC modders from Japan, by the name of Qrysalis on our forums, has found and re-constructed the files from our original training mission for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Ah, brings back memories. As you can tell, we decided to make it short and sweet for the final version of the game, but I do miss some of that choice VO (voice over). Nice work Qrysalis, as long as you don’t find our Brokeback Snipers / Hot Coffee moment with Price and MacMillian … then we’re all good. 

(fyi: Cpt Hammer is my PartnerNET gamertag, not my secret XBL account)

Just got finished jumping into some of QA’s playtests of the new gametypes. While they’re ensuring there are no bugs to be found, I wanted to jump in and test out how fun the playlists were. Hardcore HQ is a lot of fun because it’s a lot more fast paced than normal and HQ’s are falling a lot faster. Not a lot of waiting around in this gametype. Not to mention it’s a lot more tactical when you’re not just spamming the HQ with nades. I think I’ll be playing the Hardcore Ricochet version of Hardcore HQ a lot. 

We played several games of Second Chance Search and Destroy, which essentially just adds 1 respawn per player. A small addition, but makes a big difference in the tactics you use. Plus, it wasn’t as frustrating to be taken out early in the round because you get a second chance to do some damage. No more dying early and waiting around the entire match. The only problem I can foresee with it is the occassional spawn kill if someone gets past your defenses and gets in a position to kill your second wave of respawns before you get him out. Other than that I actually prefer Second Chance over standard Search and Destroy. I found myself missing the second life when we were playing standard. There were a few UI (user interface) bugs, but those can be taken care of really easily, just need to shorten the name of the gametype. 

Still on the fence with Sudden Death Sabotage, what do you guys think of that. It essentially just turns into Team Elimination because no one has any respawns, so everyone starts camping and never goes for the bomb. In a way, I like that, because it’s a sneaky way to get Team Elimination into the game with an extra twist, but on the other hand the rounds end really quickly. I’m worried this one might not make the cut, but we’ll see how the rest of testing goes this week.

Hardcore Ricochet is the answer to my prayers. Team Killing is non-existent and you no longer have to say “my bad” to a team mate you accidently blow to hell with a badly placed grenade. If you fuck up, you’re the only one hurting for it. Not to mention you never have to worry about having a team mate shoot an RPG into the ground at the start and killing everyone in Hardcore Search and Destroy. That alone makes this entire playlist worth it to me. 

Things are looking good. I’m still working hard on that upcoming Xbox Live promotion I told you about. Getting some final thoughts from our Art Driector on the Ads I designed for it, and securing the rest of the details. 

On a more personal note, I finally got my automatic office defense system online and operating… 

… and by that, I mean big ass NERF cannon; Which I have mounted on a mobile defensive position (aka office chair) for maximum effeniency. This battery-operated, belt fed, automatic rapid-fire dart cannon is exactly what I needed to the turn the tide of the war in my favor. You see, there’s been ongoing skirmishes with the radicals in IT for quite some time now…. around the time they covered my Master Chief in Peanut Butter while I was out of town for GDC.

Dare’s a war a’comin… pik yer side!  

It was awesome putting together this bad boy late last night after work. I felt like I was 8 years old again, sitting on the floor with one of our producers assembling and test firing it. Some toys you’re never too old to get a kick out of. If the day ever comes I think other wise, kill me…. preferrably death by NERFing. 

Back from PAX means back to work, and while it’s a short week thanks to Labor Day it’s the one time I wish it wasn’t because I have a lot of stuff to get done. I’m currently working on getting everything organized and together for an upcoming Xbox Live / PSN promotion we have coming up the weekend of Sept. 13th - 14th. Which isn’t this weekend, but next weekend. I will have exact details on what it is in the near future but I have a gut feeling it’ll have Double XP attached to it for all those hungry for some power-leveling on Call of Duty 4.

Currently working on designing some Xbox Live banners to promote it on the marketplace and attempting to get everything together for it on our end. This promotion is technically unrelated to the new Playlists, but I won’t lie that my hope is to finish them up in time so that we can make it all one big promotion. How epic would that be? Our awesome QA team and producers are helping me push hard to make it happen by the weekend of the big promotion, no promises, but as always I’ll keep you updated on the progress.