The Community manager for Infinity Ward, known by the masses as fourzerotwo, has posted an update on his blog concerning the complete hysteria surrounding the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta. It seems that Infinity Ward was promised by the company that maintains their web servers that the site would not crash again as it has so often has during the beta sign up process. Obviously, the repeated crashes deprived many gamers of their chance to get in on the beta, so Infinity Ward is doing something about it.
So, here's the upshot of all this: Infinity Ward is doing away with first come, first serve registration. As soon as the beta site goes live again, they will be implementing open registration for 24 hours. The exact method in which this will be done hasn't been specified yet, but fourzerotwo assures us that everyone will have an equal chance to register for the beta when all is said and done. Keep an eye on fourzerotwo's blog for updates.
Activision has announced that Call of Duty 4, the highly anticipated FPS from Infinity Ward, will be hitting retails shelves this November. To be specific, the game will be landing on the 5th of November. Forsaking the franchise's World War II past, COD4 brings the series into modern times, hence the subtitle, Modern Warfare. If, by chance, you can't stand the thought of waiting until November to get in on the modernized fragfest, you might consider signing up for the multiplayer beta lottery that's going on right now.
We saidCall of Duty 4beta details would be coming soon, but we didn't realize it would be this soon. In a late night forum post by Jason West, Studio Head of Infinity Ward, it was announced that early sign up for the beta will begin today at 5PM PT. For those of you keeping score, that's about six hours from now. Furthermore, the post announces that those who make it into the early sign up could be playing as early as tonight. You know, tonight, as in this evening. Finally, the post announces that the beta will be rolled out in waves, with more people being added over time. So, if you don't make it in today, hold tight, as more players will be added every day.
A listing on the Xbox Live Marketplace ticker for the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta set the internetz on fire earlier today. The listing, you see, has the date "8/17" tattooed onto it very clearly. The folks at 2old2play caught up with a representative from Activision to get the whole mess cleared up. The rep stated that while there is no official release date at this time, the beta will be happening "soon" and that we should expect "more information shortly."
We'd like to point out that the content on the ticker generally seems to correspond with the day it actually hits Marketplace, so we're wondering just how "soon" the beta really is. After all, we know it's being played right now. All we're really waiting for at this point is for Activision and Infinity Ward to start handing out beta codes to participants. For those of you eagerly waiting for more, you'd best keep your browser pointed at CharlieOscarDelta.com.
[Update: Activision has now given an official response about the COD4 beta release date. Click here for more details.]
If you've been hankering for you shot at the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta, your wait may be at an end. First of all, the beta has been spotted on the official Xbox Live Maretplaceticker. What's more, the listing declares that the beta is due to come out today. If you prefer a little more proof than an Xbox.com listing (and we wouldn't blame you if you do), Robert Bowling (GT: fourzerotwo), a community manager for Infinity Ward, was playing the beta at the time of this posting. We haven't received any sort of notification from CharlieOscarDelta.com, so we're assuming the beta hasn't started just yet. Still, if Infinity Ward is on Live testing the beta, it can't be too long, can it? Check out a screen cap of Bowling's gamercard after the break.
Non-American fanboys take note! It seems Activision was a little hasty in proclaiming that the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta would be restricted to the United States. The Infinity Ward community relations manager known as "fourzerotwo" on the COD4 forums has revised the statement made by Activision only yesterday. The community relations manager clarified on the forums (registration required) that the beta is only beginning in the United States, and that Infinity Ward is planning to make it international and is "currently sorting out those details." Unfortunately, we don't have any more details as to when such a thing will take place.
In other news, "fourzerotwo" also revealed that new details about the beta will be revealed soon. This information should detail some of the weapons and maps that will be available in the beta.
Infinity Ward's Jason West demoedCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, showing off the game's visceral visuals and gameplay. The mission seen takes place 15 years prior to the present in the game, with you and your sniping partner infilitrating a base. The graphics are crisp, and the lighting, explosions and smoke look especially realistic. The trailer has some intense firefights and some heavy duty missile blasts.
To show that all good things come in threes, Infinity Ward announced an Xbox Live exclusive Public Beta and gave a URL to watch for developing info. This looks to set new standards in contemporary combat games.
Xboxygen got their hands on 4 more screenshots of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4. Unfortunately, none of the shots are 360° flybys of a given scene, but it'll do. Still, the game seems to be coming along graphically and these screens have some great examples of the engine's explosion, lighting, rain and realistic smoke capabilities. Are you digging the art direction, as well as the move to modern day combat scenarios in this next installment of the Call of Duty series?
For those of you who have yet to tire of fighting it out in the trenches, new content has arrived for Call of Duty 3. Specifically, the Bravo Map Pack can now be downloaded for 800 points. The pack contains 5 maps, including 2 maps from the original Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive. The old maps, for old-school COD fans that are dying to know, are Gare Centrale and Marseilles. Gare Centrale features a train depot, which seems like the hot thing in multiplayer maps these days, while Marseilles utilizes open space and lots of vehicles.
Anyone plan on grabbing the new maps, or are you comfortable waiting for Call of Duty 4?
The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare trailer that was released late last month is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Granted, it's been available in high definition from the promotional CharlieOscarDelta.com website since last month, but this will save you the trouble of registering for a marketing website. For those unfamiliar with the game, COD4 ditches WWII action in favor of, well, modern warfare. Check out the trailer and be sure to check out the 3D screenshot if you haven't already.
Infinity Ward released a cool 3D screenshot from Call of Duty 4, similar to what Bungie did for Halo 2 all those years ago. This one depicts some soldiers deploying from a helicopter into the battlefield below. The High Definition torrent for the Quicktime VR file can be found at Xboxyde and is definitely worth the look, along with some screen captures of the scene taken from multiple angles. So what do you think of the lighting, models, etc? Do you think modern combat is a step in the right direction for the Call of Duty series?
Posted Apr 21st 2007 9:00AM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Yesterday, in a post on Infinity Ward's official forums, admin fourzerotwo hinted at a major announcement that will be coming next week. More specifically, fourzerotwo listed important events in history that occurred on April 28th (like the discovery of a vaccine for the yellow fever) and followed by saying that "what goes down this April 28th is equal to, if not surpasses, the magnitude of any of those". Yup, Infinity Ward's April 28th announcement is going to be bigger than James Monroe's birthday! So, will the news be something as simple as some more Call of Duty 4 details or are you thinking something on a much more grand scale? Speculate away ...
It looks like there are some problems with the Call of Duty 3 Valor map pack released earlier today. We have numerous readers reporting that once the maps are downloaded, they are not recognized on the 360 or within Call of Duty 3. It's reported that MS Points are debited when this happens, so prospective buyers may want to wait until Microsoft and Treyarch come up with a fix. Major Nelson advises that you keep an eye on this Xbox.com forum post for updates. If anyone hears anything, be sure and let us know.
Update: As many of you have pointed out, there are problems with this download. Click here for details.
Hot on the heels of the free bonus map, Champs, comes the Valor map pack for Call of Duty 3. The pack cost 800 points and contains 5 brand new maps. Stalag 13 is an abandoned prison camp, La Bourgade has you fight in a French village, Ironclad sets you in a naval shipyard, the Crossing puts players at a strategic choke point, and Wildwood gives you a chance to fight it out inside a forest setting. Call of Duty fans, be sure to come back here and tell us what you think.
Gears of War is generally the drug of choice around Fanboy Towers (well, that and snorting mustard), but for those of you who prefer war games about real wars, a new map is available* for Call of Duty 3. The map is called "Champs" and takes place in Port Royal de Champs, France. As we reported earlier, the map is well suited for small to medium sized games. The map is free and available now. Go grab it while it's hot.
*On a side note, yesterday's prognostications were correct. As such, we're predicting that Halo 3 will launch ... right now! ... Damn it. It was worth a shot.
The Community manager for Infinity Ward, known by the masses as fourzerotwo, has posted an update on his blog concerning the complete hysteria surrounding the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta. It seems that Infinity Ward was promised by the company that maintains their web servers that the site would not crash again as it has so often has during the beta sign up process. Obviously, the repeated crashes deprived many gamers of their chance to get in on the beta, so Infinity Ward is doing something about it.
Gears of War is generally the drug of choice around Fanboy Towers (well, that and snorting mustard), but for those of you who prefer war games about real wars, a new map is available* for Call of Duty 3. The map is called "Champs" and takes place in Port Royal de Champs, France. As we 
