A billion dollars in sales in just 16 days. An unprecedented release both for the video game and entertainment industry. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a juggernaut. It only seems fitting that along with the Call of Duty Elite mobile app going live this week, that the DLC announcements would start rolling out as well. Starting January 24th for premium Call of Duty Elite members on XBox Live (and later dates for other platforms) until September, there will be at least twenty content drops for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 including “brand new multiplayer maps, Special Ops Missions, new game modes and more.”

“The mammoth launch of Modern Warfare 3 and the breakout success of Call of Duty Elite were just the beginning. Call of Duty Elite provides an “always-on” connection to our fanbase, and the MW3 Content Season is the ultimate way to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Call of Duty community and provide tremendous value to Call of Duty Elite premium members,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “With the Call of Duty®: MW3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite we are delivering on our promise of more new content, more often, and with more variety than ever. With three studios collaborating on the first season, the breadth and depth of material on tap is truly extraordinary. It’s rare you can successfully execute both quantity and quality, but thanks to the expertise of our developers, the reach of Call of Duty Elite and the passion of our fans, we intend to deliver.”

Content drops will occur once a month for the nine month duration of the DLC season with the first three months from January to March promising five different content drops.

Continue Reading →

With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 , hitting this week the anticipation is almost palpabile. People across the internet are clamoring for just about any information available to the game. We know we at The Flickcast are anxiously looking forward to tonight at midnight to get our hands on it. But, until then, we are going to share this behind the scenes video from our friends at Activision that explains both the Facebook and Elite integration in to the game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will tie directly in to player’s Facebook friends list. This is the first triple A title to allow for this level of social networking communication that will allow players to look directly at their friends list from the game browser and hop in to games using their Facebook friends. This is going to be a great resource as not a lot of people post their gamer tag to Facebook but almost certainly everyone on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer is going to link their game to their Facebook so they can partied up that much easier with all their friends.

We also get to take a look further into the three pillars of Elite with Connect, Compete and Improve. One of the most drastic improvements looks to be the 100 person clan structure which has been added to the game. Clans can take on Clan Operations and level up the entire clan as a whole. Competition looks to heat up as well with the inclusion of both real and digital prizes in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Keep your eyes peeled for any last minute news before Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3′s midnight release tonight and check out the full behind the scenes video below.

Continue Reading →

What can a series do after destroying Washington DC? Attacking New York City, Paris and London might be a good way to kick things off. Russian Ultranationalist Vladimir Makarov is at it again with his master plan in full effect. After sending the world to the brink of chaos two years ago in Modern Warfare 2, Makarov is back as he kicks off the third world war. Captain John “Soap” MacTavish and SAS Captain John Price must come together again to stop him in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

To say Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the most anticipated game of all time may sound like hyperbole but after what happened with Call of Duty: Black Ops, the game that people expected would sell less than Modern Warfare 2, the level of hype behind this title is unreal.

After its predecessor set worldwide entertainment sales figures, the rest of the video game world has its sights set on Call of Duty’s spot at the top. Even its closest competitor, Battlefield 3 has directly stated its intentions with a tag line to their advertising campaign trying to knock Call of Duty down a peg.

Take a peek below at the trailer for what could be again the biggest entertainment launch in history on November 8th for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and PC.

Continue Reading →

Who doesn’t love taking down your friends or those punk teens in an online game of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? The worst part has to be when your cheap headset craps out right before you’re able to give your victory chant and put that n00b in their place. Turtle Beach is helping you out with a brand new line of limited edition headsets.

Starting this week, the leading video game accessories company will announce several brand new headsets, each with their own special personality and uniqueness that is a must for any real gamer. Yesterday, the Ear Force FOXTROT hit the web, while the CHARLIE hits today, followed by BRAVO tomorrow and DELTA on Friday.

Here’s the official release, and be sure to check out the full-sized images after the jump.

The Ear Force DELTA headset ships with custom voice prompts by Lt. Col. Hank Keirsey (ret.). Army Ranger, master parachutist and decorated combat veteran, Keirsey served 24 years with the US Army and now serves as the principal military advisor for Call of Duty®. It’s his voice that will lead you into battle, and inform you on your preset choices in the field.

The Ear Force DELTA and Ear Force BRAVO wireless models feature Turtle Beach’s proprietary DSP headset technology that elevates these headsets beyond mere accessories with the inclusion of custom-designed presets.  These settings are specific to Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 and come stored in the headsets right out of the box.

Continue Reading →

Already having a much smoother launch than its predecessor, the Resurgence Pack dominates the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 playlists. The five maps bring with them new strategies and further multiplayer variety, something that many of us who have sunk in an ungodly amount of time playing will surely appreciate. The timed exclusivity of this pack along with the Stimulus Package has proven its worth as sales dominate on the XBox 360 marketplace.

As with the Stimulus Package, three of the five maps in the Resurgence Pack are completely new (“Carnival”, “Trailer Park” and “Fuel”) while two are revamps of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare maps (“Vacant” and “Strike”). Activision has shown they have the power to set their own price point as years ago, many would have been up in arms about a $15 fee for only three new maps along with two they have played before.

Not surprisingly, “Vacant” and “Strike” both have very dated seen-it-before feels to them both. Even not having played them in the original Modern Warfare, they feel like incredibly generic scenery and layouts in comparison to many of the other maps in this game. “Strike” does nothing to make itself standout with its generic Middle Eastern city setting. “Vacant” goes on to feel like a map that has appeared over the years in everything dating back to Counter-Strike.

Continue Reading →

While fans are still reeling from the “Stimulus Package” map pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the geniuses at Infinity Ward are already gearing up for the next epic map pack, entitled the “Resurgence Pack.”

Some of our favorite maps are returning, such as Vacant and Strike, but there are also some great new maps available, including a desolated amusement park, a explosive gas station, an abandoned trailer park, and more. From Activision:

The second pack of new multiplayer maps from Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2, will hit first on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network worldwide on June 3rd with the release of the Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2 Resurgence Pack. Featuring five maps, the Resurgence Pack follows on the heels of the record-setting Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2 Stimulus Package of maps.

The pack will be available on XBox Live starting June 3rd for the same price that the Stimulus Package was set for, at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). Take a peek after the jump at a few screens of each of the five new maps: Carnival, Fuel, Strike, Trailer Park and Vacant.

Continue Reading →

If you’ve been playing Activision and Infinity Ward’s latest blockbuster game Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 2 and have pretty much exausted every level, weapon and adventure you can squeeze out of the game, then you’re in luck because there’s new stuff on the way. We’ve brought you news of this before and now it’s finally almost here and the companies have released a trailer for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 “Stimulus Package” map pack.

At just over a minute long it gives you a quick preview of the five new maps that will be coming to the game. Three of the maps, Bailout, Salvage and Storm are brand new, Overgrown and Crash are fan favorites returning from the first Modern Warfare.

The Stimulus Package will be hitting Xbox Live on March 30th for around 15 bucks. Sure, that may sound like a lot but with the cool maps and stuff it’s probably worth it. You be the judge by checking out the trailer after the jump. By clicking through you certify you are 18 years of age or older.

Continue Reading →

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.

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 →