The posting last Thursday on Craigslist was alarming. Someone was selling a Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundle, with both a console and a game, for $500. The problem was that Modern Warfare 2, one of the most anticipated games of the year, doesn’t officially go on sale until Nov. 10.
Activision Blizzard, the game’s publisher, called in IPCybercrime.com, a Dallas private investigation firm that specializes in online investigations. The investigators tracked down the seller and stumbled into a scheme to pirate the game and sell a bunch of fake copies over the Internet. While the bust led to the arrest of just one hacker among many, it sheds light on the shadowy underground of the business of illegal piracy. It also offers a peak at how investigators try to head off a major piracy disaster before it happens.
“It all happened very fast,” said Rob Holmes, owner of IPCybercrime. “If these guys get their stuff out, then they can do some major damage to sales and spoil it for everybody. We plug leaks every day, but this was one of the biggest ones of the year.”
The investigators started by calling the Craigslist ad phone number and talking with the seller, who said he had two items for sale. They negotiated a deal to buy two bundles for $800 each. Then IPCybercrime dispatched its investigators in Los Angeles to perform an undercover pickup. Then another Craigslist ad appeared for the same Modern Warfare 2 bundle. A search on social networks revealed that the first seller was a friend of the second seller. And the second seller said on his social networking page that he worked as a “box boy at a major retail chain.”
IPCybercrime’s client, Activision Blizzard, approached the sellers, who then admitted having stolen a crate of the bundles from the backroom of a game retail store. Then IPCybercrime folks turned the case over to the loss prevention department at the retailer, which dealt with the thieves. This kind of inside job involving physical theft is becoming common, though it’s hard to do because retailers get a major game just a week in advance and then lock the boxes up in a high-security part of their warehouses.
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With the release of COD MW2 drawing near there is one fact that cant be over looked and that is this game will be huge, if your thinking to yourself "how huge" you might want to check out this little fun fact.
Brett Walton of vgchartz.com reports: "Modern Warfare 2 preorders close in on 2.4 million across Xbox360 and PS3 with another week to go, final preorders should hit 2.6 million with a week one of 3.5-4 million in the Americas, and another 2-2.5m in Europe and other regions. With such a high average retail price, week one revenue predictions of over $500m and the title becoming the biggest entertainment launch of all-time seem likely to become true"
A EA Spokesman has confirmed the beta rumors. "As for the beta, we'll have more details later this week"..
Gamestop leaked news about the upcoming beta and even provided a launch date. (November 19th, 2009).
"Stay tuned to the blog or follow us on Twitter for future developments on all things Battlefield Bad Company 2," said producer Gordon Van Dyke in response to the beta/demo question.
In "Battlefield: Bad Company 2", the ‘B’ company fight their way through snowy mountaintops, dense jungles and dusty villages. With a heavy arsenal of deadly weapons and a slew of vehicles to aid them, the crew set off on their mission and they are ready to blow up, shoot down, blast through, wipe out and utterly destroy anything that gets in their way. Total destruction is the name of the game, delivered as only the DICE next generation Frostbite™ engine can. Either online or offline, enemies will soon learn there is nowhere to hide.
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If you were one of the people that just couldn't wait for Left 4 Dead 2 to come out and you pre-ordered it, well here is your gift. The demo for the highly anticipated game is out now, for all people that pre-ordered the game that is.
The Left 4 Dead 2 demo will feature gameplay taken from "The Parish" campaign, set in the New Orleans French Quarter. Playable by 1 to 4 players over local or Internet connections on both the Xbox 360 and PC (with two-player split screen available on the Xbox 360), the demo features all the new boss infected zombies and all the new melee weapons included in the full product.
Those who pre-order the game (at participating retailers or via Steam) will obtain early access to the demo on October 27. The demo will then be made available to Xbox LIVE Gold members and all PC gamers on November 3. Then all Xbox LIVE members will obtain access to the demo on November 10.
Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC, L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009's marquee titles. Set for release on November 17, the title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaws, frying pans, axes, baseball bats, and more.
Microsoft has given developers the option to control chat options while playing in Multi-player games. Modern Warfare 2 will be using this system. When you are in party chat and try to get into a Public Multi-Player online match, You will be given the choice to switch to game chat or to remain in Party chat and not play. This system is intended to put a stop to people in party chat on opposite teams informing on locations of other players. Basically A spy on your team telling his buddy on the enemy team where you guys are in a map. This is expected to start showing up in many online games including Gears of War.
Leaked footage of gameplay from Activision's Modern Warfare 2 has the Australian Council on Children and the Media calling for the game's MA15+ to be reconsidered, effectively banning it from sale.
The skippable scene of terrorist atrocities in Modern Warfare 2 first came to light via leaked footage on YouTube early yesterday. News travelled quickly, however, with an AP report dropping yesterday afternoon, distributing the news to just about every news organization on the planet. Word obviously reached Australia, prompting Australian Council on Children and the Media Jane Roberts to call on the Australian Classification Board to reconsider the MA15+ rating the game received, which is the highest rating given games in the country. Reconsideration would effectively ban the game from release. Roberts claims that even with the MA15+ rating, the game would still be readily available to children.
"The consequences of terrorism are just abhorrent in our community and yet here we are with a product that's meant to be passed off as a leisure time activity, actually promoting what most world leaders speak out publicly against."
Do not read on if you wish to avoid Modern Warfare 2 spoilers.
Here's the report regarding the offending scene filed by the Classification Board that accompanied the MA15+ rating decision.
"Several civilians are shot with blood burst bullet wounds; civilian corpses are strewn across the airport floor, often in stylised pools of blood; injured civilians crawl away with lengthy blood trails behind them."
The report goes on to mention that you cannot inflict post mortem damage on the civilians, and that all other missions of the game will result in failure if a civilian is shot.
Activision released a statement to Kotaku yesterday regarding the scene, explaining that it was "meant to evoke the atrocities of terrorism."
Back in Australia the debate rages on, with Nicholas Suzor, spokesman for the lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, using the situation to call for a R18+ rating for games released in the country, while rejecting the idea that a video game could foster terrorism.
"Films often show the villain's perspective and, by doing that, they get across the character's story and the heinous nature of people who carry out atrocities. Games, too, are becoming more expressive, and are telling more involved stories. We may make an argument that these sorts of topics are not suitable for children, but I don't at all accept that it is unsuitable for adults."
The Classification Board cannot review its own decisions, so anyone interested in getting the rating reviewed will have to apply directly to the board.
You know you been waiting for this day and the time is now so hit the link at the bottom of this article and start downloading The Ballad of Gay Tony right now, you know you want to so just do it.
Content: Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Price: 1600 Points
Availability: Not available in Japan
Dash Text: (ESRB: M (Mature) BLOOD AND GORE,INTENSE VIOLENCE,PARTIAL NUDITY,STRONG LANGUAGE,STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT,USE OF ALCOHOL,USE OF DRUGS,ONLINE INTERACTIONS NOT RATED BY THE ESRB) The Ballad of Gay Tony injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (a.k.a. “Gay Tony”), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see : www.xbox.com/live/accounts.
Yes it is true, Confirmed by Fourzerotwo on his blog just after some leaked footage hit the net and resulted in a handful of users being suspended from youtube.
The above graphic is not MW2. rather a screen from SOCOM Navy Seals.
Some of you may love the Idea or a socom style 3rd person view, some may hate it, but do not get too excited. The option for 3rd person is only available in Private matches. The 3rd person view is something that is turned on or off in the host players game rules area. If turned on, all players will be in 3rd person. You can not have some players in 3rd and others in 1st, Its all or none.
IW has hinted that a new trailer will be aired soon showing off this feature.
Another confirmation by Fourzerotwo is that create a class will be accessible offline. You are no longer required to log into live for weapon class editing.
WARNING This video contains crude humor and language that is not suitable for younger viewers, and to top it off it contains spoilers.
connectedconsoles.com reports: Modern Warfare 2 hasn't had a perfect run-up to retail especially with the Infamy trailer showing the war coming to the United States. Infinity Ward also announced that the PC version of the game would not have dedicated servers which which caused many gamers to boycott the game. Now, a new video has appeared online which could spark even more controversy.
The video below shows gameplay from one of the game's single player campaign and shows you playing as terrorists in an airport. You then, have to kill as many civilians as possible. Now that, could cause more controversy.. We can see how it could.
Was it me or did this tard just say something about going to the mall to kill everyone in the airport?
Get it together man and edit your vids so you don't look like a goon.
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