This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt are again joined by resident gaming expert John Carle to talk about a whole slew of new topics. Some of these include the recent Oscars, upcoming video game releases, the recent Infinity Ward controversy, the Iron Man 2 and Tron Legacy trailers, Captain America casting rumors, XBox and PS3 hardware and the timeless classic Bosom Buddies.

The guys also make some picks this week, as they usually do, including John’s pick of the comic book Chew, Matt’s pick of the book Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter and Chris’ pick of the Apple iPad.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Podcast: Download (88.6MB)

In the first half of The Best Video Games of 2009, we saw Best Portable, Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox 360 Exclusive titles. Now things are ramping up on the way to the Game of the Year.

Best Music Game

Tie – The Beatles: Rock Band and DJ Hero

The Rock Band / Guitar Hero formula has been done to death at this point. Players play songs in a set list to unlock more music. Repeat as many times as needed until all songs have been unlocked. But it was 2009 that the music game genre took two big steps forward. As loved as Metallica is, their Guitar Hero installment couldn’t hold a candle to the weight of the legacy that the Beatles would bring with them in The Beatles: Rock Band. For the first time, there was a career spanning take on the legendary act with amazing and unique visuals attuned to the songs being played out.

With the addition of harmonies for the first time in any music game, The Beatles: Rock Band stepped up the feel of being in a full band to another level. Along with the unrivaled set list that only the Beatles could produce, the game has a shelf life that can outlast the pop-centric songs of current game releases.

A little over a month later, music gaming took another leap but this time into the unknown. Many people grow up hoping to become famous musicians at one point in their life but nowhere near as many look to become famous DJs. DJ Hero from Activision brought in masters of turntablism with the likes of the original hip-hop DJ Grand Master Flash to DJ Jazzy Jeff to electronica legends Daft Punk in the ultimate mashup collection.

Continue Reading →

Game publisher Activision and game producer Infinity Ward have announced that their new game, the hotly-anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , has become the biggest game launch in history with estimated sales of $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom in the first 24 hours. This according to internal estimates at Activision.

As you probably know, unless you’ve been living in a cave, Modern Warfare 2 was released on Tuesday, November 10th at over 10,000 retail outlets in the U.S. which held midnight openings to meet consumer demand. In its first day, it sold approximately 4.7 million copies in just North America and the United Kingdom, again according to internal Activision estimates.

Obviously, the folks at Activision were pretty excited about all of this.

“The shattering of these entertainment records is a testament to the compelling, cinematic and uniquely engaging experience that the Call of Duty brand delivers,” said Mike Griffith, CEO, Activision Publishing, Inc. “Modern Warfare 2 has taken interactive experience to unprecedented heights setting a new standard for entertainment.”

Works for us. Hey, we got our copies of the game here at The Flickcast HQ gaming lounge, how about you?

There’s not much more to be said about the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 game that I haven’t said already. Until I get a copy to talk a look at and can play it for more than ten minutes, as I did at a recent event, I can only go by what I’ve seen so far. And so far, what I can say is that the game looks awesome!

I think you would agree, judging from the other information we’ve brought you about the game previously, that Modern Warfare 2 looks to be the game to beat this holiday season. Now, thanks to our friends at Activision (you know who you are) we can bring you the new launch trailer for the game featuring all the modern warfare, helicopters, gunfights, explosions and kick-ass action you’ve come to expect from this franchise and that this game delivers in spades.

Be sure to check out the new trailer after the break. Because this game, and trailer, is full of bloody game goodness, by clicking through to watch you certify you are eighteen years of age or older. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, from Activision and Infinity Ward, hits store shelves next Tuesday, November 10th.

Continue Reading →

As we may have mentioned before, we’re pretty excited here at The Flickcast for this game to hit store shelves. Modern Warfare 2 represents the ultimate in first-person-shooter action and from what we’ve seen so far, looks to be able to take its place among the elite of games in that space. Prior to today, we’ve been able to bring you some info about the game including an earlier trailer and a look at the awesome, customized XBox 360 console dedicated to it.

Today, we’ve got another brand new trailer for you from the game, courtesy of our friends at Activision. This time around, the trailer shows a lot more of the exciting gameplay you can expect from this game. It also gives you some insight into the story and talks about the cost of war. Plus, did I mention that quite a bit of stuff blows up? Well, it does and its awesome. All in all, a very cinematic trailer which makes me even more anxious to play the fully completed game.

Modern Warfare 2 is for all next-gen consoles like XBox 360 and PS3. Look for it to hit store shelves on November 10th. Meantime, check out the brand new trailer and see for yourself after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Last night at a special event sponsored by Activision and Infinity Ward, our own Chris Ullrich got a chance to take a look at the new multi-player features of the upcoming game Modern Warfare 2. Check back later for all the scoop on that and on the game itself. In the meantime, another cool piece of news was made public last night that is sure to please hard-core fans of the Call of Duty franchise and those of you who need a cool new console to play your games on.

Microsoft’s own Major Nelson made the announcement last night that there would be an exclusive global XBox 360 console based on Activision and Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 game. Not only that, this console would have unique styling elements and feature a 250 GB hard drive, which is more storage than any other XBox 360. Interested? Of course you are. Here’s all the info from the official press release.

And also, be sure to check out our bigger pics of the new console after the jump.

Microsoft Corp. and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today brandished the latest weapon to help gamers take to the battlefields for the global launch of the year with the announcement of the Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console. Infinity Ward’s “Modern Warfare 2,” the blockbuster sequel to the best-selling first-person action game in history, “Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare®,” was the inspiration for the console’s high-speed, low-drag, battle-ready design, which is available for pre-order today at U.S. retailers and in other regions later this week.

Continue Reading →

We’ve been following Modern Warfare 2’s development pretty closely here at The Flickcast because we love first person shooters, modern weapons and because it just looks so cool. Back in May, we brought you the first extended trailer for this highly anticipated game and it was, in a word, awesome. This time around, we’ve got the brand new trailer for Modern Warfare 2 called “Flag Runner” to share with you today.

In this one, which also looks awesome, we’re treated to extended scenes of action and gameplay footage sure to excite even the most jaded FPS fans out there. The Call of Duty series continues to be one of those game franchises that never fails to disappoint and this game, especially based on this new trailer, looks to not only continue that trend but to smack it in the face, turn it in another direction and make it even more awesome.

In case you’re one of the few people not familiar with the game, its brought to you by the folks at Activision and Infinity Ward and takes up where the first game (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) left off several years later with Sergeant “Soap” MacTavish who leads an elite, multinational commando unit, Task Force 141, to counter the resurgent Russian Ultranationalist organization. Of course, lots of gunfire, explosions, helicopters and mayhem ensue. That’s gonna be fun.

The game hits store shelves on November 10th. In the meantime, check out this brand new trailer after the jump. Because this game is an M-Rated game, by clicking through you certify you are eighteen years of age or older. Enjoy!

Continue Reading →