ps3

I was originally hoping we’d have all the details finalized for the upcoming launch of the Variety Map Pack on the PS3 by last week, but it’s been taking a bit longer than expected. The only thing we’re waiting on now is official dates, all the logistics are essentially worked out.

I got word today that the Variety Map Pack for PS3 has went amazingly well through Certification at Sony and they plan on having it available on the brand spanking new PSN store in the coming weeks. I’ll have an exact date for you in the very near future. I’ve seen mock-ups of the new PSN store and it looks cool, lots of new features to play around with so it’s going to be great to have the Variety Map Pack as one of the first new things available when it launches.

We’ll also be hosting a ‘Play With Infinity Ward’ event with the PS3 community when the map packs hit, I’ll post up details on that as soon as we have a firm date, as well as a Double XP weekend is in the works.

Again though, I was hoping we’d have the dates of all of this finalized by now, but I will post EXACT details and dates for the Launch of the map pack, the release of the GOTY Edition, and when you can expect Double XP weekend and Play with the devs to start.

The good news is we’ll be having all the same great promotions (i.e. Double XP Weekend, Play with Devs) on the PS3 just like we did on the Xbox 360 when we launch the Map Pack!

The Variety Map Pack DLC and patch required to add the maps to the game have went to Certification at Sony last night. We’re shooting for a worldwide simultaneous release, so all users can expect to have it at the same general time frame when it finishes certification. We’re working to see if we can secure a firm release date to pass along to you guys now, and I’ll post that as soon as I have it.

In addition the map pack should be hitting the PSN store around the same time the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition for PS3 hits store shelves. I will have exact details on the GOTY edition, release dates, and more hopefully this week as they’re being finalized.

Just a heads up that it looks like Marketplace is back on it’s feet and running as normal. You should have no problem buying or redeeming the new Variety Map Pack. If you tried yesterday when it was down and received an Invalid Code error, be sure to retry today with the same code. If you received the Error Message that your code was already used while it was down yesterday, just attempt to re-download it via the “Download Maps” option in-game or on the marketplace.

Meanwhile, we’ve been preparing for the launch of the new maps on the PS3 as well via PSN. So we should have details on that in the near future (hopefully next week). I’m in the process of setting up some Play with the Devs games as well as looking into other similar things we can just like the launch of the map packs on Xbox 360. Please don’t feel ignored if every platform isn’t mentioned in each post, a lot goes into every release (especially something as big as a map pack release), so typically when I post I’m focused at the subject at hand specifically.

Luckily though it’s getting to that time for the PS3 to be the focus for a while with the launch of the Game of the Year Edition on PS3, the Variety Map Pack hitting PSN, and setting up some launch weekend events for you guys when the maps hit.

As I said we are getting close to having official details on exact release dates and info on the GOTY Edition for PS3 hitting stores worldwide, as well as when you can expect the Map Pack to be up on PSN for download. That’s my main focus for next week.

On the PC side of things the Patch is in queue to finish internal QA for release. The Community Mapping Content has come to an end and we’ll be putting out an open call for all the maps you guys have created to be submitted as well as releasing details on the prizing and how the winning maps may be showing up. We have some awesome prizing I’m anxious to finalize and announce to you guys. I’ve been keeping tabs on the Beta / Released maps in the Mapping forums on Infinityward.com and there are some great ones.

In addition to that details are being finalized as to getting the map pack to the PC users as well. I can’t speak specifics just yet as everything is being cemented now, but it sounds like good news.

Let me know if you guys have any questions or concerns in the meantime, but it sounds like next week is going to be the most informative when it comes to what’s shaping up on the PS3 and PC side of things.

The new Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which is scheduled to be released on Xbox Live in the first week of April (3rd or 4th), was sent off to certification at Microsoft today. The map pack is going to be bringing four new maps to the game with the addition of Creek (seen above), Broadcast, Killhouse, and Chinatown (seen below) which is a modern-revision of the classic Carentan from past Call of Duty games.

Along with the new maps next week, we took this opportunity to slip in a change to the Clan Tags in the game along with a few other minor fixes. We heard your cries and will be tweaking the Clan Tags with this DLC patch (which adds support for the new maps). The new Clan Tag update will re-allow you to use special characters in your clan tags, but still prevents the exploit which allowed images (like Left Thumbstick and button images). Thanks to everyone who sent us feedback related to Clan Tags since the feature patch!

While the maps will be hitting Xbox Live the first week of April, PS3 users will STILL be getting the map packs, however it’ll be a little later (21 days later approximately) before they’ll be available on PSN for the same price. Right now plans for the PC version are unannounced but we are working to bring PC users the same content in the future, however logistics are being worked out on how to make that happen.

We also have a cool DLC Hands-on event going on in California, New York, and London I’ll be posting more about today.  Sorry for the slow blog posting week, I’ve been slammed preparing for the release of the DLC, press, and upcoming events for it so I apologize if it’s taken longer than normal to post, or get back to your comments / emails!

Hey Everyone –

The PS3 Feature Patch for European / Oceania players has hit today. Thank you to SCEE for all their work getting that out as fast as they can. I saw a lot of unjustified flaming on the boards of this last night since the US patch hit. I want to make it clear that SCEE did everything by the book and was able to get the patch out to the EU players as quickly as was feasibly possible so let’s cut them some slack. Regretfully we’re all on different timezones, so when the patch came up for release the US was still in the working hours and was able to get it out immediately while in UK time it was much later in day and not feasible for them to release immediately in line with the US timezone. Hopefully everyone understands that as I hate to see someone take slack for something that was out of their control, credit is due for them working so hard to get this out to you guys as quickly, I think an overnight turnaround from the US patch is comendable with the time zones.

That said, the patch is out for US / EU / Oceania users so you can enjoy the new kill cams, recently met players, mute options and more.

I know that all the PS3 and PC players have been waiting for information during this onslaught of Xbox 360 patch release and I want to let you know that you haven’t been forgotten, there are still things happening on your fronts as well.

The PS3 feature patch is currently at certification at Sony and has been for about a week now. It’s going through it’s necessary channels worldwide for each respective region. We haven’t heard any problems back so that’s a great sign. We haven’t received any eta from Sony (which is typical for these types of things) but if I hear any indication of when you might be able to expect it I’ll pass it along.

As for the PC version, Patch 1.6 will be the one that introduces the new Kill Cams and other features the console feature patches received for you guys. The work is done on that patch and it’s essentially awaiting and going through internal QA here at Infinity Ward and then Activision. The good thing about the PC version is it doesn’t require any certification so as soon as it’s finished internal QA it heads out the door to the players. I will try to get a full list of what PC Patch 1.6 includes as I believe there are a few more PC specific things in there besides just the added Kill Cams and such.  Don’t forget we still have the Custom Map contest going until March 31st, if you have the PC version and want to check out all the cool custom maps everyone is making we have a running list going with all the current releases and beta maps in the works. Check out the full list after the jump:

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The NPD numbers for US Hardware and Software sales are in for January 2008 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare holds the #1 spot with the Xbox 360 version and the PS3 version also in the top 10 at #8.

It’s great to see the game keeping it’s top spot for so long after launch, with the new DLC in the works hopefully we can keep it up there with the continued support we give to the game to give players more and more of a reason to pick it up and play with friends. We have no plans to quit supporting the game anytime soon. Also glad to see Burnout Paradise in the top 10 as well, as I’m a huge fan of the Burnout series and Burnout Paradise is no exception. Just unlocked my third Carbon car.

01. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 330,900
02. Wii Play (Wii) - 298,100
03. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 239,600
04. Rock Band (Xbox 360) - 183,800
05. Guitar Hero III (Xbox 360) - 182,700
06. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 172,000
07. Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360) - 144,100
08. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) - 140,000
09. Mario Party DS (DS) - 138,500
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) - 133,000

Hit the jump for Hardware numbers and more… Read the rest of this entry »

Heads up for our PS3 players in European (and anywhere else besides Japan / Korea) as rumor out of SCEE today is that the EU Connectivity patch designed to optimize connectivity and matchmaking for users as well as allow them to re-connect to international friends has passed certification and could be on it’s way to EU PS3 users as soon as Friday the 8th. Don’t hold me to it, as I can’t speak for them, but that seems to be the goal.

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New Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare DLC Maps On The Way

I’ve got some big news I know that everyone has been waiting on official confirmation of and I’m excited to let you guys know that we’re currently working on some official new maps for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that are going to be available as DLC in the future for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Last week I let you know that we were on the look out for the best community-made maps, but this week I can let the news out that we’re working on official IW-made maps of our own as well behind the scenes.

These new maps will be adding even more variety to the online multiplayer of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and I’m excited to gradually share more details regarding the new maps as we progress. So keep your eyes tuned to the blog as I’m going to be sharing sneak peek details and insights on what you can expect as we get further and further along with the DLC.

As always, thanks to everyone for your feedback and support. In the spirit of the new DLC announcement, what do you hope to see? Leave a comment and let me know what you’d like to see more of in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare? What kind of maps are you hoping to see?

Full official press release after the jump.

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