Playstation 3

Gah - I’m finally back to twittering and blogging again after being pulled into my shell for the last few weeks. The time spent away has been productive, regretfully not the kind of progress I can talk about, as the last two weeks have been mainly focused on meetings, planning, brainstorming, and work on our future project.

In regards to Call of Duty 4, we just finished up our latest promotion with the PS3 and 360’s Double XP and Variety Map Pack sale which was a huge success. It pushed us well over 2 Million Map Packs sold on 360 and made us the #1 most sold DLC on both platforms. Thanks to everyone who picked up the map pack. 

Oh, International PS3 users: I almost forgot. Our international users on the PS3, you have not been forgotten. We’re currently working on bringing the Half off Map Pack promotion to you as well, it’s just taking a bit longer to get it all set-up with SCEE and Asia but it is happening. Just so you know, you won’t miss out on the deal.

I also wanted to let those with the Game of the Year edition, who have been attempting to redeem your free map pack token, that we’ve been going back and forth with Microsoft on getting us those tokens to refill the database as fast as we can and discussing how they can improve their ridiculously complex and time-wasting token distribution system in the future. Essentially it’s the most needlessly bureaucratic and mindnumbling extensive procedure you’ve ever seen.  It’s a serious joke, and not the funny kind, but we’re doing everything we can to get more tokens from them and to you. I’m sure the process of creating randomly generated strings of numbers and letters is complex something well deserving of the month (and counting) it’s taken to supply them. On the PS3 side, no problems. Their token process was quick and painless and GOTY tokens are fully stocked. /rant

The last bit of COD4 news is the playlists; which are currently in a holding pattern in MP design territory. They’re working on the issues I spoke about several weeks ago where the gametypes needed some gameplay balancing (i.e. Spawn Camping in Second Chance SD, Round ends too quick in Sudden Death Sabatoge). So at this point, I’m not going to make the same mistake twice and just hold off on saying anything until they’re completly finished. So…. just know we’re working on them and once they’re amazingly fun and finished, I’ll let you know. they’re coming out. Bummer. I know, but despite my willingness to cave under the sheer crave for the new playlists the MP Design team refuses to let anything out of their grasp until it is completely up to standard with their very high bar of quaility for multiplayer in Call of Duty 4…. and I don’t blame them.

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. 

This weekend was great! After lurking at Prestige 1 lvl 55 for nearly a year; the double XP this weekend enticed me to finally prestige again. That, coupled with watching 007 Casino Royale on Friday night, made me want to get to at least level 37 to unlock the suppressed G36c for some stealthy action.

All said and done, I was able to rank up 45 levels between Friday and Sunday night; I could have done a bit more, but that was without neglecting the family.

I experimented a lot with Perks I never used before this weekend and have found a pretty sweet combination for playing Hardcore Team Deathmatch and Hardcore Search and Destroy (which is where I mainly hung out this weekend).

First of all, screw the M16. I’m done with it. It’s dead to me. The G36c is where it’s at. 

Add a  little Bomb Squad for picking up enemy claymores in Search and Destroy so I can stay alive and warn team mates where to plant.

Some obligatory stopping power (although it’s not really needed in Hardcore); Once I unlock a more stealthy perk I’ll switch it out.

Finally, Last Stand. Which I never used before but have gotten damn good at this weekend. You couldn’t imagine how pissed off people get when they put you down and then you headshot with a pistol. Hilarious and makes you not so angry when you get killed. All in all, I was bringing my a-game most of the weekend with this set-up. 

So how did you guys do this weekend? Any one rank up an an entire 55 levels or more?

Now that the Xbox Live weekend is finished, we have the PS3 weekend coming up this weekend (I believe). We’ll have official confirmation on that soon and a full post detailing it, but I as I said before you guys can expect the same treatment for the most part. Minus the prestige picture pack, as regretfully PSN avatars are reserved to 1st party devs only :sadface:. I’ll get you PS3 players all the details on the weekend soon.

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.

I knew there were a lot of us out there, but just how many? Well, I received the reports this week and it looks like our COD4 online community stands at over 10 million strong (Xbox 360 / PS3)! That’s all unique players too, so 10 million different people have logged on for online multiplayer since buying the game in November. Those stats don’t include people who have never logged into MP, only those apart of the Online Community.

That’s insane. With a little over a million players logging in everyday for multiplayer, I can’t say I’m too surprised. It’s awesome to think that we’re all part of building something so massive, and when I say we, I mean me, you, all of us. Everyone who logs on to play with their friends, reads the blog, contributes on the forums, took part in the beta. You guys shaped this game and what it is today. We have one massive, powerful, community and all of you should be proud because there is honestly no other game community I’d rather be a part of. So when I say this, know that I mean it… THANK YOU!!!

We have some new multiplayer playlists in the works to breath even more life into multiplayer, in addition to that I’m working on a few other things behind the scenes that I can’t talk about just yet (in case they don’t come to fruition).

This really makes me want to have another Community Party (anyone remember the COD2 all night?). If any Los Angeles locals are interested in having a COD4 Community Meet-up / Community Party, let me know and let’s put one together!!

As you know, We’ve been playing around with a lot of different playlist variations for the last several weeks and we’ve got quite a few cool mash-ups and gametype tweaks in the wings. It’s no secret that adding new playlists (or anything to multiplayer) takes a long time. There is a lot of careful planning and consideration that goes into anything new we add to the overall gameplay experience of the game, and nothing is added unless we’re completely convinced it will add to the overall experience. So as you can imagine, we play the hell out of any new addition we even consider before we consider it “good to go”.

That said.

The good news is, we have a few playlists that can be implemented via a playlist update (no patch required) and a few that we’re determining now if they can be added; the bad news is a few of them that can only be implemented via a patch. We’re still in talks to see if a small patch is feasible within our current production schedule, so I’ll let you know as that’s determined.

Remember though, nothing is final until it’s actually released. I don’t want you guys to be disappointed if something doesn’t pass QA, but to give you an idea of what we’re currently testing and where we stand with each playlist:

Hardcore Headquarters - No Patch Required

Testing is completed for Hardcore HQ. This playlist has standard HQ rules w/ Hardcore Settings. Limited HUD, Increased Bullet Damage, and Friendly Fire Enabled.

Hardcore Ricochet Playlist - Currently Testing

We’re currently testing this playlist now to see if a patch will be required for it or not. We should know soon. This is the No Teamkilling playlist. Any damage a teamkiller attempts to do to their team mates is reflected onto themselves only. Therefore, if they attempt to shoot an RPG into the ground at the beginning of the match; the only person who will die, is the Teamkiller. This eliminates the fear of being shot in the back by some asshole, but still encourages players to play tactically and not throw random nades, because if you accidentally hit a teammate, you’re only going to end up killing yourself and they’ll go unharmed. No Teamkilling, No Random Nades. This playlist will include the variant for Hardcore Teamdeathmatch, Hardcore Search and Destroy, and Hardcore HQ.

Sudden Death Sabotage - Currently Testing

Sabotage with no respawns. Fast-paced and intense Sabotage. No more hiding with the bomb until time runs out for sudden death. Increased XP per kills to encourage Team Deathmatch mentality. Defend your objective, while attempting to secure the bomb and plant on theirs. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. No second chances. We’re currently testing to see if this can be implemented without a patch.

Second Chance Search and Destroy - Currently Testing

Search and Destroy with 1 respawn each. This completely revamps your Search and Destroy tactics. No longer will lucky frag or well-placed claymore end your chance of victory. Each player has 1 respawn, creating longer more thoughout attack / defend strategies. Eliminate enemy players, and cut off their reinforcements while you defuse.

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If all these get past Quality Assurance (Test) with zero bugs, then we’ll be able to implement these four new playlists rather quickly (once QA and Localization is finished). In addition, we plan on adding Killhouse to more playlists and adjusting the amount of XP you get in certain playlists. (i.e. double XP in hardcore and new playlists).

Hit the jump for the playlists we’d like to do, but would require some code work to implement.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to everyone who helped play test the new playlists last weekend, as well as everyone else who volunteered to help! I received an overwhelming amount of messages, emails, and other friend invites over the past week from the community offering to help out! THANK YOU and I’m sorry we couldn’t include everyone, but the good news is the tests went great (helped us find a few bugs with the new settings) as well as come to final decisions.

That said, we’ve already begun the process to add the new playlists to the game. Don’t get your hopes up just yet, as there is currently no ETA on when you can expect to see them go LIVE, but as soon as I know when you can expect them, I’ll let you know. I’ve walked you through the process we’re going through now at the end of this post. It’s not a long process, but still a process nonetheless.

Hit the jump for a full breakdown of the playlists we’ll be adding, as well as the process involved in adding new playlists to the game.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to everyone who commented, sent in emails, or contacted me via other means; including the epic presentation I received via the mail this morning containing an entire breakdown of a new game mode complete with a full-size fold out poster (thanks Ian!!).

I received a lot of great suggestions and feedback regarding new playlists you guys would like to see, and this weekend I’m going to be hosting a series of private matches in Call of Duty 4 to test them out. So if you haven’t already, be sure to drop me a message on Xbox Live / PSN as I’ll be cleaning off room on my friends list and inviting anyone interested to help out this weekend.

Some of the gametypes we’re going to test out this weekend are:

Bare-bones Team Deathmatch

No more excuses. No more blaming Martyrdom or Juggernaut for your lack of skills and kills. Bare Bones Team Deathmatch eliminates the excuses and takes it back to basics with standard Team Deathmatch with no perks, no kill streak rewards. Just you, your skill, and your weapons.

Hardcore HQ

Hardcore HQ requires a lot more than just spamming the HQ position with nades and running in guns blazing. Hardcore HQ encourages more tactical gameplay and communication to win with increased damage, no HUD elements, and friendly fire on.

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy starts every member of the attacking team with a bomb. So everyone has the opportunity to plant if they’re good enough.

Hardcore FFA

Even faster paced Free For Alls, where every bullet counts and playing smart is key for a solid k/d ratio. Standard Free for All rules, with Hardcore mode enabled for extra damage, no HUD, and no health re-gen.

—–

That’s the plan for this weekend. I’ll be setting up private rooms all weekend long and inviting everyone online and interested into the lobby to test them out. If we all like them, then come Monday when I get back to the studio, we’re going to work on adding them as new playlists.

If all goes well, I’d like to make this a weekly weekend event with you guys, where we log on every Saturday to try out new stuff you guys come up with, what we like stays, what we don’t goes! So log on this weekend to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, send me a friend request or a message letting me know you want to play, and let’s get some games going testing these out. See you online this weekend!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM8cz-RYy2s]

I spent most of my time, this past extended weekend, playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer with a lot of you from the community. The cool thing is, like most games that have been out for a while, the community starts creating their “own versions” of gametypes or completely making up new ones that they play in Private Match. So I spent a good deal of my time online this weekend in private matches with several readers of this blog, playing some community made gametypes. Such as one of our games of “Michael Myers” that one of the players in the game apparently recorded last night that can be found above.

If you’re not familiar with the Mike Myer’s gametype, it essentially boils down to hide and seek. Hit the jump for a full description of how to play it, but that’s not the point of this post.

The point is. Talk of new playlists has sprung up again here at the studio, and I’m pushing to get another playlist update for the game, hopefully adding some gametypes or revamped playlists. This weekend really got me thinking about what we can do. Essentially anything you can make up in Private Match (by tweaking settings / rules) can be used as a new playlists / gametype. Something as making more hardcore gametypes hardcore, or something more complex like a completely new mode.

That said, I’m looking for a group of people who’d be interested in getting together for some private matches and trying out some community made gametypes, or throwing in ideas for rule sets / settings that could make for some interesting gameplay. We obviously have some ideas already of what we’ve like to do, but I’m interested in playing all the community Gametypes that you guys have already come up with and seeing how fun they are. I’ve played Zombie (that’s a given), and quite a few other, but if you have any cool gametype you and your friends have come up with in COD4, let me know. Let’s play it.

Drop me a message online and I’ll make some room on my friends list, and we’ll get games going this week / weekend to try some of them out, or leave your gametype ideas / suggestions / rules in the comments!

For how to play “Mike Myers” or “Manhunt” as well as a summary of how our games went this weekend, hit the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re making great progress on the new Infinityward.com. A mock-up of what the front page will look like above, all the pictures and text are just temporary filler at the moment while we work on design and backend functionality.  The new site will take the place of Charlieoscardelta.com and the current Infinityward.com when we’re done, but don’t expect to see it live for a while.  Next week I’m going to be working on the actual content on the site and moving it all over, populating the pages with actual info / media. Meanwhile we’ll be working on building out the forum and online store. Then we’ll go live with it.

That said, we’re finalizing the T-shirt designs and getting hi-res versions of all of them to the printers for production. I won’t spoil the surprise of which ones we’re printing just yet, I’ll save that for when the store goes live, but still continue to give us feedback on which ones you like as we’ll also be looking to make more.

PC Cheat Exploit Fix In The Works

I also wanted to note for our PC players, we’re currently working on a fix for the PC cheat exploit that many of you reported to us after the 1.6 patch. Thanks to everyone for their quick response in getting us information on it. The programmers are currently addressing it and I’ll update you when you can expect the fix to hit servers as soon as I know.

Holding onto #1 Most Played Game on Xbox Live Spot

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 GTA IV
4 Battlefield: Bad Company Demo
5 Guitar Hero III
6 Gears of War
7 Rock Band
8 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
9 NINJA GAIDEN 2
10 FIFA 08

I didn’t get a chance to post this when it went live this past week, but it looks like we’re holding our #1 grasp on the Most Played Game on Xbox Live according to MajorNelson.com.  I’m sure the Double XP weekend had a lot to do with that as I saw a huge number of people playing this past weekend.

Meanwhile, we’ve been working with the Microsoft team to track down the issue some of you are having when receiving the “Must have active connection to play on Xbox Live” despite being signed into Xbox Live already. The word is, it’s apparently an interruption in connection with the Xbox Live server. It’s not your internet connection, just your session connection with the Xbox Live server. I’ve been working with users and Xbox to try to track the problem so they can eliminate it as quickly as possible, I’ll keep you posted on any progress there.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

So where are your gaming hours being spent this weekend? I’ll be playing some Call of Duty 4, also I got my copy of MGS4 today. I’ll probably play that this weekend and see how it is. It looks amazing, while the gameplay is more slower than I normally like, I still think it’s going to be an amazing game. I’ve also been playing the new Incredible Hulk Game while I know the stereotype that all movie-license games suck, it’s actually pretty cool. Everything I’d want from a Hulk game is there. Also, if you have a Iron Man gamesave on your HDD when you play, you’ll unlock Iron Man in Hulkbuster armor as a playable character and unlock an achievement. I also created a new WoW character this past week…. now I’m not a heavy WoW player (infact, this is my first character) so I’m still unsure how much time I’ll spend on the game but I figured since everyone I know plays the damn thing I’d see what all the talk was about. I’ve owned for a while and just never installed it. So far, I see the appeal and starting to get into it, but I’d still rather pick up a fast-paced FPS over it, but maybe it’ll suck me in.

Video Blog

YES, there will be another. YES, I’ve been slacking on it, YES, I suck. I know, I’ve been meaning to do one weeks ago and just keep getting sidetracked (by playing games, mostly) and I’m sorry. The shitty thing is there’s lots of cool shit I’ve been wanting to show you guys on it too. I will get one out, soon, I promise. I’ve been hoping for this really cool game site to launch before I posted a new one, but it likes like I’ll have time to do a new one now and then another when it launches. So hopefully I don’t procrastinate on that too much longer.

That’s it for now, leave a comment and let me know what you’re playing or if you still have suggestions for the next video blog hopefully it’ll get me inspired to drop the controller and do another one! so let me know! Thanks guys, see you online.