Plain and simple. The guys from Tango Down Gaming are the shit and they’re not messing around when it comes to making requests for what they’d like to see in Modern Warfare 2. I just met up with Stang98k and Unwashedmass - two old friends and just a few of the members from the Call of Duty clan TangoDownGaming who are made up solely of players over the age of 25.
The guys stopped by the Infinity Ward studios today to say hey and drop off the impressive gift you see above. See what I mean about not kidding around?! Why you ask? Well, the included encoded note says they merely want to show their appreciation. Their true motives? I think it’s bribery to attemp to coax us into adding some sort of Capture the Flag gametype back into the game. I have to say, I AM quite susceptible to both flattery AND bribery!
In all seriousness though, we REALLY appreciate this guys. The mere fact you guys are so devoted to our games is enough, but when you go above and beyond like this it’s seriously humbling and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it. This is awesome, and I am already proudly displaying it in my office.
The guys told me they’re going to be looking for more members, so if you’re a hardcore mature COD player looking for some fellow guys to party up with and play some games without the general annoyance that come with pub matches online, then hit up http://www.tangodowngaming.com
THANK YOU! - To everyone who took the time to show your support and vote for the GAME Award of 2008. I just got back from BAFTAs last night, and have had a bit of time to re-coup from the whirlwind trip. While there, we were lucky enough to walk away with THREE BAFTAs (Best Gameplay, Best Story / Character, GAME Award of 2008). A feat that is absolutely humbling. Most importantly though, the GAME Award which is the only award voted on by the players really meant a lot because it meant all of YOU took the time out to show your support for what we’re trying to accomplish here at Infinity Ward.
At the end of the day, it’s all about how the players feel when they play the game. We make these games for all of you, so awards voted on by the people ALWAYS carry a lot of weight.
That said, the entire trip to London was fantastic. I met a lot of great people and was floored with how friendly EVERYONE I met was. I left with a fantastic impression of London and it’s people and can’t wait to return in the not too distant future. Be sure to check out the BAFTA’s official site for a complete list of everyone who won awards and check out some of the videos.
Thanks again to everyone who voted, and of course to the Academy for everything.
I’ve booked a last minute flight into London / Heathrow Airport for Sunday night to attend this year’s BAFTA Awards (http://www.bafta.org/) which will be held in London on Tuesday the 10th. We were blown away on Feb. 10th when this year’s BAFTA nominations were announced and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was up for 8 AWARDS, including:
Best Game
Best Multiplayer
Best ACTION / ADVENTURE
Artistic Achievement
Best Story and Character
Best Gameplay
Best Use of Audio
and last but not least the GAME Year of 2008 Award! While the rest of the awards are voted upon and decided by the British Academy, the GAME Award is the only one voted on by the players ( http://www.baftagameaward.com/ ). Of course, it’s a great honor just to be nominated in the British Academy awards and I’ll be in Londay by 7 AM Monday morning ready to show our appreciation if we’re lucky enough to win. If you’re in the London area, drop me a line and say hey. As always I’ll be twittering live from the award ceremony via @fourzerotwo on Twitter.
I’ve been advocating the power of Twitter pretty hardcore recently, especially the value in using it as a conversation tool and more importantly tracking those conversations and using the feedback contained within. That philosphy gave birth to http://twitter.infinityward.com . A Twitter web-app for tracking conversations and feedback for Modern Warfare 2 we’ve been developing behind the scenes.
The #MW2 app went live earlier today Yesterday, and within an hour has officially become the #1 most talked about topic on Twitter (just behind American Idol). I was blown away with the response to our first question, “Name one thing you’d like to see in Modern Warfare 2″ .
However, the ability to see real-time feedback and conversations about Modern Warfare 2 feeding through the app is only the beginning. The best part is the ability to vote on suggestions and rise in the ranks on the Leaderboards. Allowing us to quickly check the top rated suggestions, and reach out to the users with the best suggestions to hopefully include them in future events, beta tests, or community days.
When a question is asked, all you have to do is tweet your answer / suggestion along with #MW2 .
What is #MW2?
#MW2 is the official Hashtag for Modern Warfare 2. Which means, anytime I,or anyone else, is talking about Modern Warfare 2 on Twitter, we’ll mark it with #MW2 so it can be tracked and included on the http://twitter.infinityward.com live feed as well as searched for on Twitter.
#MW2 Leaderboards
Once you’ve thrown your suggestion or comment about Modern Warfare 2 into the Live Feed, you can track and vote on other peoples suggestions, and track the top users on the #MW2 Leaderboard. It’s a great way to get recognized in the community and I’ll be using it to identify community members to reach out to in Call of Duty / Infinity Ward future events and projects.
Feedback on the App
This is a fairly unique social media experiment in terms of using it to solicit feedback for game design. So any comments, suggestions, or feedback on how to make the #MW2 app even better is always appreciated. I’m always looking for new ways to reach out to our players and strike up a conversation. Feel free to drop me a line at robert.bowling@fourzerotwo.com with any inquiries about the web app, or how you can help.
Time to finally finish getting to 10th Prestige! I sent out the call a week or so ago asking who would be down for a Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare all-nighter on the last weekend of Feb. and you guys answered the call. So many responded to the Twitter posting infact, that we decided to make it an even bigger deal. So here’s the plan.
Starting Tuesday Feb. 24th, the Variety Map Pack will become %50 off for those of you who still need to pick it up, leading up to the promotion, I’ll also be giving out tokens to download it for free on Twitter. When the last weekend of Feb. hits, starting Friday Feb. 27th and going until Monday morning, we’ll be flipping the ol’ mighty Double XP switch one more time!
That’s not all though, I plan on pulling an All-nighter on Friday the 27th in my attempt to finally reach Level 55 10th Prestige, and I want you guys to help get me there. To do that, we’ll be adding a new playlist to the rotation. The HARDCORE HEADQUARTERS playlist will be added on Friday 27th along with Double XP for the most XP heavy sessions you will ever see. Who’s down for a little Hardcore Headquarters on Shipment?! Carnage will ensue.
The 50% off Map Pack, Hardcore Headquarters playlist and Double XP includes Xbox Live and Playstation Network!
Anyone and everyone can participate, no sign-up, no anything. Just pop in the game on Friday the 27th and play. We’ll handle the rest.
I don’t know, I have a gut feeling that 10th Prestige is a good place to be…
It’s been a busy last few weeks, and it’s getting busier by the day. Tomorrow night though, I’m going to be taking some time out to attend a charity event I’m excited about called Twestival LA. It’s one of many Twestivals happening around the country that’s being organized through Twitter and supports the cause of Charity:Water. You can learn more about the event at http://givewaterla.org/ .
Essentially though, the goal of the charity is to collect donations that will help provide clean water via the construction of wells in underdeveloped countries. If you buy a child a bottle of water, you help them get through the day. If you provide them the means to build a well, you help their entire village for a lifetime.
So if you’re in the LA area tomorrow night and want to hang out, I’ll be at Club 740
I’ll be hooking up the volunteers of the event with some Call of Duty 4 water bottles while I’m there. I figured Charity:Water…. COD4 Water Bottles. Seems like a good fit eh?
If you plan on attending, let me know! I’d love to hang out while you’re there. Drop me an email, or hit me up on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/fourzerotwo
I’ll keep this short, considering I made about 10,000 tweets while there and I don’t want to repeat the entire trip, but I’m finally back from a week-long stint at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
The quick re-cap is:
Black Dynamite is absolutely amazing. Instant classic, and apparently got picked up by Sony Pictures for a cool $2 Million just after the premiere screening. So congrats guys.
Second best part of Sundance was the premiere of the Nazi Zombie slaying flick from Norway called Dead Snow. Note the (slightly blurry) pic above with said Nazi Zombie. If you can’t tell, his costume was awesome. (UPDATE: Dead Snow got picked up for distro by IFC films!!)
Ran into Computer, from ThreeSixMafia’s crew. Seriously one of the funniest people I’ve met in all my life. Eventually he ended up just crashing out at one of the parties:
Also ended up playing a little Call of Duty with Efren Ramirez aka Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite back at our place.
(holy shit, why do I look like I’ve never been in contact with sunlight?! PALE!)
Park City was a beautiful town which I hope to revisit at some point when it isn’t being temporarily transformed into Mini-Hollywood w/ snow. Aside from Paris Hilton nearly making me piss myself; All in all, it was one hell of a trip filled with lots of snow, lots of shows, and lots of tweeting.
If you’re interested in the full story int he form of a day by day rundown of the festivities, hit up the twit: www.twitter.com/fourzerotwo
This is a bit more widespread than I originally thought when I sent out the warning on twitter (@fourzerotwo and @Infinity_Ward) earlier today, but there is a FAKE email going out to people which appears to come from COD5BETA@infinityward.com (see above).
If you receive one, just delete it. Don’t open it, reply, or click any links - it’s fake and could contain a virus or be an attempt to phish personal information. The body of the email is an exact replica of the one I sent out during the COD4 Beta, except they’ve replaced all references of Call of Duty 4.
For the record, there is no beta. Believe me, if we were having a beta, I’d be screaming it from every internet rooftop from Twitter to Forums. We have yet to even officially announce our next project, let alone a beta for it. Although, it is kind of flattering to think Spammers think a beta for our next game is luring enough to get people to open. WATCH OUT Penis Enlargement spam mail, there’s a new kid on the block!
